A team of fishermen operate the net. (Venus Upadhayaya/The Epoch Times)
Some
six centuries ago the Chinese traders brought this amazing technique of fishing
using gigantic cantilevers
with nets attaches at one end and the boulders at the other end tied used as a counterweight to pull out the fish out of the water with the help of the ropes operated by men. These fishing nets also locally called “cheena vala” are a source of income food for the many villagers here and are lined on the both sides of the of the fort Kochi.
with nets attaches at one end and the boulders at the other end tied used as a counterweight to pull out the fish out of the water with the help of the ropes operated by men. These fishing nets also locally called “cheena vala” are a source of income food for the many villagers here and are lined on the both sides of the of the fort Kochi.
Fort Kochi
is one among the group of the islands in old Kochi and has emerged as a very
prominent centre of trade and commerce with respect to the spices and from the
tourism point of view. It was the
gateway for the many foreigners into India such as the Arabs, the Chinese,
Portuguese etc. in the past times.
Alochey,
one of the many such owners of fishing net watched his 5 men operate the
gigantic fishing nets and the reward – a small, lone fish.
“This
is peak tourist season, but water and catch is less…..We barely manage to catch
2–3 kilograms [4.5–6.6 pounds] of fish a day [in the off season]. Our
livelihood these days depends on tourists, who come, attracted by the nets, and
make donations,” explained Sabu, of the Alochey’s men, who has been depending
on this work for the past 8 years.
The
purpose of the fishing nets are served well during the monsoon months of June
to August when the nets earn the maximum income with the catch that are
supplied to the nearby fish market and the hotels around the Kochi fort. During
the other months of the year the nets earn form the donations of the visitors
who cum here to escape the winters to enjoy the fair and the pleasant weather
of kerala.
Sabu
has accustomed to the work and knows how to attract the foreigners with the few
flattering phrases which he uses to describe the nets to the visitors who watch
the fishing nets with awe.
Alochey
just like the other owners of the fishing nets has inherited the fishing nets
from his forefathers and himself works as a carpenter while he has hired men to
operate the fishing nets.
Chinese Fishing nets off the Fort Kochi coast in India on Feb. 8. (Venus Upadhayaya/The Epoch Times)
Just
about 30 feet away another 56 year old fisherman named Benjamin operation on
another fishing net invited a nearby strolling French woman to board the
gigantic structure as she watched the workers lower the nets into the water and
come up with a catch which she helped humbly put into the fish basket. After this experience the Benjamin and his
Men surely ask for some donations but sure not all are generous but many donate
with a kind heart.
Sabu
explained that whatever the donations earned during the day, it was finally
divided equally among the men and each person got as much 350 rupees ( US$6.50)
which was good compared to the odd 150 -300 earned with the other jobs in the
state.
To
make it interesting Sabu even put a live fish in a tub for the close watch of
the tourists while he introduced them. He put three fish in the water tub and
explains “This is tiger fish. It’s called so because of the tiger-patches on
its body.”
Here
during the off fishing seasons Sabu and Benjami’s men have been fishing not for
the fish but the tourists. Getting a good catch requires lowering of the
fishing nets for about 5-20 minutes but here the fishing nets are lower every
2-3 minutes just to attract the tourists as they do so. Just for the same
reason all the nets have been standing on the same spot where they have been
for centuries.
Sabu pointed
out- , “Look at this fishing net to the left. It’s lying unused because it
needs 7 lakhs [700,000 rupees, US$13,000] for repairs. It’s become very
expensive to run these nets these days, and we have no support from government.
All these fishing nets around are private property, owned for generations.”
Benjamin
said, “This is one of the changes that happened to these nets.” The repairs
were visible in many fishing nets where the wooden parts were replaced by steel
frames.
