Pricey pompret

Paradip, May 3: Seafood lovers may have to cough up extra bucks for their favourite dishes this summer with fishing ban paving way for steep price hike in the retail markets.

With the 45-day fishing ban on mechanised trawls and boats becoming effective from April 15 across the state coast, seafood items have become scarce in the menu.

As country-made vessels, which are not mechanised, are permitted to undertake fishing voyage, the catch has dropped drastically. As a result, the price tag is on the upper side, said a representative of local fish workers’ association Tushar Sardar.

The prices of popular sea fish varieties such as kani, prawn, pomfret, khanga, khuranda, bekti, khasuli, eel, ray sting, ray and others has shot up. As this time of the year is the breeding season, restriction on fishing is imposed to allow breeding and multiplying of fish population.

This is aimed in the greater interest of fishermen, as this will lead to a larger yield in the coming months. The ban will remain in effect from April 15 to May 31.

The fishermen and trawl operators have been asked not to undertake fishing voyage. Prohibition on sea fishing is being promulgated under the Odisha Marine Fishing Regulation Act.

Defiance of order would lead to seizure of vessels and arrest of the crewmembers. However, non-mechanised vessels would not come under the purview of the prohibition, said deputy director (marine fisheries) Pratap Ranajn Rout.

Trading activity at fishing harbour in Paradip and fishing jetty in Kharinashi has come to a halt. “The fish catch is limited nowadays. Normally, I sell up to 16 varieties of fishes. Now, I have only four to five varieties to offer. The price would continue to rule high till June,” said fish trader Rajendra Manna.

Before the ban, the daily sale was over 5 quintal. But, it has made a nosedive to hardly 50kg a day. The prices of highly consumed fish varieties such as khanga, pomfret, kani and prawn have more than tripled.

Only posh hotels and restaurants are ready to shell out extra money to buy sea fish, said fish wholesaler Sushant Behera.

The mechanised boats and trawlers, which operated from Paradip, Jamboo and Kharinasi, were accounting for sizeable bulk of fish catch. These vessels are lying idle because of the fall in catch.