The sea area of south Gujarat is polluted and that drives the fishermen of the area to miles away to the shores of Saurashtra for fishing. Indian authorities are not taking any measures to ensure pollution free water for commercial fishing in the area. It is told that the indiscriminate dumping of untreated industrial waste has taken its toll on their fish catch, forcing fishermen from south Gujarat to sail to Saurasthra.
There are fishermen who go all the way to Porbandar and Okha for edible, saleable catch. P D Tandel, a fishing community leader in Onjal in Navsari, told that pollution in the sea has robbed the fishermen of their prosperity. He added that a few years ago, there were ready markets to buy fish from them. Then, around 10 years ago, when the water started getting polluted, we went to Mumbai.
Tandel also said that they have to go miles away as the Marathi fishermen did not want them to fish in their seas. He added that about 100 trawlers from his village operate in Porbandar and Okha. It is told that the fishermen from these affected areas are now going for fishing in Porbandar, Okha or Veraval and they are often not treated well by local fishermen.
