For two successive years, Gujarat’s peak fishing season has been struck by war.
Last summer, the conflict between India and Pakistan prompted the Gujarat fisheries department to recall boats out at sea.
This summer, as fishermen race to haul up catch before the monsoon fishing ban kicks in, the war in West Asia has cut off export markets, tanking the prices of fish.
“The rates for ghol fish have fallen by Rs 2,000-Rs 3,000 per kg,” said Siddik Jasraya, who heads the Fishermen Boat Association in Salaya, a village in Dwarka, home to around 800 fishing boats. The highly valued ghol fish can cost up to Rs 12,000 per kg.
Squids are exported to Europe at Rs 500 per kg but the price has dropped to Rs 250, said Damodar Chamudiya, another fisher from Junagadh district.
While the prices of fish have plummeted, equipment like fishing nets have become costlier. Nets are made from plastic and nylon, which are petrochemical products now in low supply due to the war.
The war has compounded an already burgeoning crisis in Gujarat’s fishing industry, which has battled rising tariffs, stricter regulations and increased input costs in recent years. “If you add to this the ecological crisis of fisheries, where costs of fishing have gone up but fish...
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