Karwar: High-speed strong winds prevailing over the central & southwest Arabian Sea has affected fishing to a large extent. Hundreds of fishing boats which were involved in deepsea fishing have been forced to anchor around Baithkhol fishing port.

As per the warning issued by the Weather Department, strong winds with waves rising over three metres will likely be experienced for two more days. This made the fishermen return to the shores immediately. On Friday, hundreds of fishing boats were seen lining Rabindranath Tagore Beach also.

“More than 500 fishermen from Uttara Kannada, Mangaluru, Malpe, Udupi, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have taken shelter in Karwar for the last two days. Due to adverse weather conditions, it is not advisable for fishermen to venture into the sea. Starting from June 1, mechanised fishing activities were banned for 61 days to facilitate breeding of aqua fauna in the Arabian Sea. After the ban was lifted in August, fishermen could not enter the sea due to heavy rain. In this fishing season, fishing has been possible for only five days,” said fisherman Vinayak Harikantra questioning who would compensate the losses.

Price rise in market

On the other hand, there has been a decline in the availability of fish in the market and so, the prices have gone up.

“The fish which was Rs 100 earlier is now costing Rs 200. This is burdening the customers also,” Vinayak said.