People residing in the village of Olaikaadu Beach, Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu) mainly earn their living by fishing. The fishermen venture into the deep sea using thermocol rafts to fish with hooks. According to a report by Local 18, the people have reported a lack of squids, which has largely affected their business. They mentioned this is happening likely due to the wind speed. The Ramanathapuram district houses the longest coastline in the state. People staying there are highly reliant on fishing as a primary occupation. They usually practise various types of fishing methods, which include using deep-sea fishing, shore nets, and hook-and-line fishing. Some people use country-style boats, while some use motorised boats. Fishermen from the villages of Olaikaadu and Sangumal often venture to deep sea using thermocol floats to catch squids with hooks. This is said to be a traditional way of fishing in the area.
The fishermen explained that the traditional method of squid fishing was once fruitful, but the availability of the squids has significantly gone down in recent times. They mentioned that this dip was due to the changing ocean conditions and wind speed, which have also adversely affected their fishing. A fisherman named Jerome expressed his concern about this issue that has put their livelihood in danger. He said, “Earlier we used to catch around 10 to 15 kgs of squid per person, but now the numbers have significantly decreased to 1 to 2 kgs per person.” This dip has raised serious questions about the livelihood of fishermen who depend on this occupation.
Earlier, fishermen used rafts made of wooden logs. With the evolution of fishing techniques, country boats, locally known as vallams were used replacing the traditional rafts. Now, fishermen take thermocol floats onto the boats and travel to the deep sea in groups. Once there, they have launched the thermocol rafts, they sit on them and fish with hooks. After catching the fish, they sell them to businessmen on the shore.
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