DHIRAJ HARMALKAR
dhiraj@herald-goa.com
VELSAO: For senior citizens Gabriel and Luisa Fernandes of Dando Velsao, the lockdown has brought only worry. A traditional fishing family, their life upturned a year ago when the lockdown was announced and nothing has been normal since then.
A visit to their small and old house reveals the hard times that the 70-year-old ramponkar and his wife have faced during the lockdown and continue to meet post the pandemic.
Speaking to the Herald, Gabriel said he has been involved in fishing since his childhood. “Before the lockdown I used to go twice a day with my canoe to catch fish with a rapon. Then I had two helpers, but after the pandemic related lockdown, I have remained at home and haven’t been able to venture into the sea,” he said. The reason, his labourers had rushed back to their native place. “We have no other option but to sit back and wait until things come back to normal,” he said.
For the Fernandes couple, life is not normal yet. Questioned further, Luisa said that Gabriel being old and suffering from some health issues could not venture into the sea alone as he used to do in his younger days.
Gabriel added that post the lockdown, when they decided to restart fishing, the labourers demanded a plane ticket to fly down from their native places and also a hike in their salary. “We hope that the labourers come back and our fishing activity starts,” he added.
With his fishing income no longer coming in, the couple has been depending on their son who is working overseas, who sends them money to support them in pandemic. That’s how they have managed to survive, they reveal.
For Gabriel the past months have been like nothing he has seen in his 70 years – a depressing phase wherein fishermen had to sit idle at home for such a long period.
The Fernandes couple is not alone in their plight. In the same village, is Camio Souza also a ramponkar who has been in the traditional fishing activity most of his life. For him too, the pandemic has not been good.
Souza said that before the pandemic, they used to catch a fair amount of fish and on an average, per day they could net fish worth Rs 3000 or more, depending on the trips they made. But with the pandemic, everything changed for the worse.
“The savings which we made for several years got exhausted during these months. My son and I are in the traditional fishing business, but since the lockdown we both have had to sit at home and we had to depend on our savings,” Souza said.
Souza, however, has begun going out to sea again with his canoe, but strangely, and for which he has no answer, they have been get considerably less amount of fish. “We are not even able to get the quantity of fish which by deducting the fuel cost for the motor, we could earn some profit. Per trip almost Rs 3000 worth fuel is used. We should get subsidies and supportive schemes from the government,” he added.
When asked whether he gets enough to survive, tears rolled down his cheeks as Souza replied saying that he manages to earn just that much to allow him to have least have a meal.
For the ramponkars who were already struggling for their survival the pandemic has definitely not been good.
