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Kathmandu,Friday May 19, 2000 Jestha 06, 2057.
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Fishermen giving up profession
By a Post Reporter
MALANGWA, May 18 - Fisherman Ram Bahadur Bote has
started working on daily wage ever since there has been scarcity of fish in the Bagmati
river.
Although he knows its futile, Ram Bahadur still
goes to fish in the river. "Since I started fishing when I was very small, I still
want to do it," says Ram Bahadur. "Sometimes I go and wait for hours but I
manage to get not more than two kilos of fish."
Fishermen here say it’s been seven years since
the river started getting scarce of fish. Not only Bote, around 50 families of fishermen
have been compelled to leave their traditional job and take up something else due to
scarcity of fish in the river. While those who own land have taken up farming, others have
turned to work on daily wage.
"It’s been seven years since I stopped
carrying fishing net," says Gyan Bahadur Bote, 50. "What’s the use of
carrying the net if there’s no fish?"
Fishermen who could earlier survive from selling
fish are finding it hard to make two ends meet from daily wage. A little over a decade
back, these fishermen could catch about 30-40 kilos of fish a day. Even on lean period
they could get around 15-20 kilos of fish. Fish sellers would land up at the river itself
to buy fish from fishermen.
"Even on cheapest season we could sometimes
earn about Rs 1,500," says Gyan Bahadur. "These days even after working for the
whole day, we get Rs 100 only."
According to fishermen, fish started getting scarce
in the river after people from outside used electric current, explosives and poison to
kill fish. "No matter how much you fish with net, the fish never gets less,"
says Sante Bote. "But explosives and current eliminates them."
The fishermen also claim that the river which once
boasted of a fish weighing 15 kilos does not have fish more that half a kilo in weight
these days.
Kismat Mainali, a local youth, says the sad plight
of Fishermen is due to lack of precautionary measures in time. "If the unnatural
methods of fishing like blasting explosives and feeding poison is not stopped in time, the
fishermen would have to suffer like this," he said.
Of 500 fishermen in the area, about 100 are
children of school --going age. "But only 15 go to school," says Garbhe Bote.
Although two youths from the community have passed the School Leaving Certificate (SLC)
examinations, they complain the two haven’t got job.
The fishermen community is the only community from
the hills in Sarlahi.
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