“This erstwhile Dutch colony, once known as Cocanada is a paradise for Fishing occupation and we came here 30 years ago. Agriculture and fishing were the major sources of our livelihood. I own a boat and do fishing business for my survival. It’s been 15 years since my father entered into this business and I am continuing the same from the past 10 years.

Initially, we were doing agriculture works in a village which was 25 kilometres from Kakinada City and later we sold almost 5 acres to shift to fishing business. In the past, my father faced a lot of financial problems as it used to take one whole day for fishing in a single boat. There was no technological advancements such as GPS tracking and Echo system in the past and it further added to many complexities.

When the Cyclone hit Kakinada in the year 1996, the Ministry of Fisheries introduced the messaging system in order to maintain the communication among the fishermen. We also use Antenna for further communication as the signals will be lost in the middle of the sea.There’s no financial assurance for our lives incase any of us die during the process of fishing. Three years ago, my brother died while fishing in the sea and his body went missing. We claimed for the insurance but we didn’t receive any financial assistance from the Government. There was a situation where my boat’s engine failed and I was stuck in the middle of the sea for five long days.

Even though there is a significant improvement in the tracking technologies in the recent past as we tend to get signals up to 70 Kilometres from Kakinada City, the lives of the fishermen are still in danger as we lack the major support system from the government. There are different varieties of fishes in the sea and in order to catch Tuna Fish, we have to travel almost 200 kilometres away from the seashore. I have gone 80 kilometres away from the seashore which is the highest in my life. We invested 1 lakh rupees by taking debts from others for our fishing business and strive hard to achieve the return of our investment.”

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