Thiruvananthapuram : After braving high seas, the fishermen's battle onshore for fair price is almost always a losing one, as their hard-earned catch falls at dismal rates into hands of ruthless ‘octopuses’ waiting at fish harbours. Howeve, this age-old exploitation is now set to stop, with the new government ordinance whereby the right to price the catch will rest with the fishermen instead of the middlemen unlike until now.
The cabinet approved Kerala Fish Auction and Quality Control Act will be implemented soon, bringing an end to the middleman culture in this sector. Presently, agents waiting at the shore and decide prices for the catches coming from the sea. The octopus cult - brokers, bidders, commission agents and so forth - have been over ages ingesting sweat and blood of the fishermen, by tilting exploitive pricing in their favour. The modus operandi is to make an offer price initially, then go back on it and reduce it in stages as time passes by. It is a game orchestrated by brokers and agents that ends up stressing fishermen to accept lower monies that contracted at the auction.
This kind of exploitation is dealt out to poor fishermen who fish the hard way on small boats while the catch coming in from large boats gets relatively fair pricing. These practices do not suited to a civilised societies, said Minister For Fisheries Mercykutty Amma.
Middlemen swindle 15 percent as “auction commission” from the boat owners. This is apart from a string of commissions swiped by bidders, brokers, middlemen and wholesale contractors down the line. For every 12 baskets laden with 22 kg fish each, two are shoved aside for the auctioneer as fees. With coming of ordinance, this strange custom will come to an end.
Soon, boats can dock at and hold auction only at points marked by the government. Only people named by the Fishermen Welfare Cooperative societies affiliated to Matsyafed will be allowed to take part in the auctions. And license will be made mandatory for the auctioneers.
Further, prices will be fixed on daily basis by government agencies in each district. Base prices will be fixed for the first and last haul. The pricing will ensure that fishermen do not lose more than 5 percent of the fish value in charges. If any instance of higher levy is detected, the concerned person will undergo 2 months in prison and a fine of 1 lakh. And repeating the offence would mean 1 year imprisonment.
