Thoothukudi boats anchored due to ice bar price hike

MADURAI: Fishing operations were suspended off Thoothukudi coast on Monday after several mechanised boat owners raised objections to rising cost of ice bar, which is essential to keep the seafood catch fresh.

S Xavier Vas, president, Thoothukudi Mechanised Boat Owners Association, said currently an ice bar weighing fifty kg is priced at Rs 140 and a fishing boat requires a minimum of 10 to the maximum of 40 ice bars. Traders were engaged in procuring an ice bar directly from ice plants at Rs 90 and sell it at a high cost of Rs 140.

Nowadays, fishing is not a profit making business because the fish catch is on the decline. Fishing has not been consistently good yet. It could just become a break-even business only when a boat netted fish worth Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh. If a boat owner’s content with the amount of fish required to run a break-even, then fishing would be on through six days a week. Moreover, the fishing industry is weighed down by labour woes, he told DT Next.

G Arulraja, president, Thoothukudi Ice Plant Owners Association, said there’s no alternative except to hike the market price of ice bars and it’s only because of the increase in electricity tariff on consumption. The ice manufacturers solely rely on the fishing industry especially on mechanised boats in Thoothukudi and Tharuvaikulam.

During 2017, a unit of electricity was consumed at Rs 5.85 including tax and an ice bar was sold at Rs 90 then, but now the cost of consumption per unit rose to Rs 9.75 inclusive of tax. Moreover, the rising cost of water load, diesel, labour and toll fee resulted in increasing the cost of goods and overheads. Hence, the ice plant owners have no other go, but to increase the ice bar price by Rs 20 for mere survival, he explained.