The sea hunters of Thoothoor

Around 600 boats from Thoothoor are now deployed in the western and eastern waters of India and around the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

St Antony,the boat that was attacked by Italian tanker Enrica Lexie,was one such boat from Thoothoor that had been operating from Kerala’s Neentakara fishing harbour. All the 11 people on board the boat belonged to this coastal region in Tamil Nadu. Of the two who died,Jelestin,who is from Poothurai village under Thoothoor panchayat,had settled in Kollam in Kerala after he married there.

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Villages under Thoothoor panchayat have a long tradition of fishing. According to J Vincent Jain,spokesperson of the South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies,earlier,people in these villages used to go fishing in catamarans,using single hooks. They later shifted to catching sharks,using the same single-hook technique. Until about three decades ago,they did not go far away from the coast and returned in a day or two. But that changed with the introduction of mechanised boats. Thoothoor’s fishermen started venturing out to other coasts,first to the Kerala coast and then moving up to Gujarat. Now,their boats and men fish in the deep sea along the eastern coast too.

“The first boat in Thoothoor was introduced about 35 years ago. Now this region has about 600 boats that move in the Indian waters and are owned and operated by fishermen of this region,’’ says Jain.

What sets these Latin Catholic fishermen apart is that unlike other fishermen who use the trolling method or nets to catch fish,those from Thoothoor use hooks and lines for their catch of shark,tuna and other deep-sea fish.

Each of these boats have 15,000 to 20,000 hooks of various types,one for almost every kind of shark or tuna. Around 2,000 hooks are placed along a 5 km-long nylon line that’s lowered into the water,a process that’s called shooting. “The shooting and the hauling of the hooks back into the boat take about nine hours. We finish shooting at one end and return to the other end to start hauling. We work in shifts,’’ says Jain.

Until 1990,these fishermen rode the seas on mere grit. They got their first compass in 1993 and the GPS in 1996. The fish-finder,a device that helps locate fish by detecting reflected pulses of sound energy and now used in all fishing boats,was introduced in 2000.

A Seseadimai,47,a fisherman-turned-boat owner,says their days at sea have changed over the years. “Even after we got mechanised boats about 30 years ago,the fishermen would return after four days. In those days,we kept salt in our boats to prevent the catch from decaying. But now,ice storage has changed the way we work. The big boats now stay in the deep sea for even up to 50 days,until they exhaust their ice stock,’’ says Seseadimai.

He says most of Thoothoor’s fishing boats operate from Kochi,where there is a high demand for fish from exporters and the local market. “Some of our boats that fish off the coasts of Gujarat,Maharashtra and Karnataka,operate from Kochi. It takes four to six days to reach these coasts and the boats go up to 300 nautical miles into the sea,’’ says Seseadimai.

“Thoothoor’s fishermen are an adventurous lot. Who else would stay in the sea for 30,even 50 days? The other fishermen don’t know this technique of deep sea fishing using hook and line. They use nets and are amazed when Thoothoor fishermen end up with better catch,’’ says L Francis of the Trolling Boat Owners Association in Colachel near Kanyakumari.

A A Cecil has just returned from a month-long fishing trip along the Maharashtra coast and is still high on bravado. “Our attempt is to catch fish at any cost. Nothing deters us,not even the choppy sea. While fishermen from Thoothoor stay back in the deep sea,others rush back to the shore if the sea gets rough. If the catch in one part of the sea isn’t good enough,we move to another ground. Sometimes we even stray away from the Indian waters. I have gone close to Pakistani waters several times,’’ he says.

Every boat that leaves the coast is stocked with the necessary supplies of ice,diesel,cooking gas,rice and other provisions. A small boat,about 50 metres long,stays in the deep sea for 30 days,while the larger ones,75 metres in length,can stay on for 50 days. It is usually the larger boats that set sail from the Kochi coast and go up to Gujarat,Maharasthra and Karnataka. Though they have different fishing grounds in the deep sea,groups of boats usually ensure that they are within the range of wireless communication.

Until a few years ago,boats from Thoothoor and nearby areas operated from almost all the fishing harbours along the Indian coast. But over the years,their presence led to clashes with local fishermen and they had to return to Kochi,Kollam or Thoothoor to sell their catch. Boats operating along the eastern coast of Orissa,Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal bring their haul to Kerala by road.

Fishermen Jenny S and nine others have just returned to Thoothoor after spending 10 days in the deep sea,but are raring to go again. “The catch was good so we are going back for another round. If we get lucky the second time,we will return in 10 days. Else,we will stay put till we run out of supplies,’’ says Jenny,loading his boat with provisions.

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It’s a tough life,not just for the fishermen but for the families they leave behind. Though fishermen use wireless sets to communicate among themselves,it doesn’t help them get in touch with their wives and children.

“My husband (Sherin Anto) does not tell us where he is going. Now I don’t ask him either. His boat usually returns before three weeks. Yet,after two weeks,I start dialling his cellphone number. The children also get anxious,’’ says Sheela,a mother of two school-going children.

Fishermen say there have been several deaths at sea. The day the Italian ship shot at St Antony,a 58-year-old fishermen died somewhere along the Mangalore coast.

“Whenever a fisherman dies at sea,the body is kept among the ice blocks meant for the fish. If they see another boat returning to the coast,they hand over the body to that boat. Otherwise,the same boat steers back to the coast with the body. Often,the family gets to know of the tragedy only after the body reaches home,’’ says M Dicrason,a 55-year-old fisherman.

Similarly,the fishermen are in the dark about much of what happens at home while they are away. Last year,a father learnt of his son’s death in an accident two weeks after the incident,when he came home with a good catch.

Selvi Souza,in her 40s,says her husband Roman and nine others work on a boat that operates from Port Blair. Last month,her husband sent home Rs 15,000 after they landed a good catch,but they are not always this lucky.

The children of Thoothoor have grown up among the boats and the fish,but like in every other place,they yearn for a newer,better life. Of Selvi’s four sons,only the eldest has taken to fishing. Her second son is a BBA student at Palayamkotta in Tamil Nadu. The other two boys haven’t decided what they’ll do,but say they could opt for engineering or nursing.

Seseadimai Paulose,a boat owner,says very few youngsters in Thoothoor want to take up fishing. “In our days,we all went fishing even before we turned 15. Now,if the Navy finds a teenager on a fishing boat,the owner is fined and even loses his catch. So all the children go to school or college. We have started hiring fishermen from other villages,’’ says Paulose.

The attack on St Antony has rattled Thoothoor,but fishermen say it’s not the first time one of their boats has come under attack from a foreign ship. In June 2010,seven men were killed along the Kanyakumari coast after their boat was hit by an unknown ship. “The boat should have returned within three weeks. After waiting for another week,I went to the police. Later,parts of the destroyed boat were recovered from the deep sea. The families of the victims were denied compensation because they didn’t have death certificates,’’ says Paulose.

In February 2011,another boat from Thoothoor was ripped apart by a ship 60 nautical miles away from the Kanyakumari coast. The fishermen clung on to the damaged boat for hours and had a miraculous escape after a floating warning light from their boat alerted other boats in the vicinity.

“The ship traffic in this part of the sea has gone up. Sometimes the ships cut through our hooks and lines. But we cannot run away from here because this is where the sharks are and this is the only way we can earn

our livelihood.”

Robert Singh,who is just back after a month-long stay at sea,says,“When we leave,we mortgage our lives to the sea.”