more-in The eight-day indefinite strike by boat owners made no serious impact on retail fish prices as the supplies from other States and the catch by valloms and small boats met the daily demand. The prices were fairly stable throughout the strike period though the mechanised boats in Beypore and Puthiyappa totally kept off the sea. “For us, there was no dearth in stock as agents who sourced their supplies from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra brought us the required quantity every day. Only the rate of king fish increased from ?450 to ?700 a kg,” said P. Shibu, a fish merchant in the city. He said the price of all other fish such as pomfret, oil sardine, mackerel, pearl spot, prawns and pink perch remained the same. Customers too said the strike had not impacted them. Sudha Sajeevan, a homemaker at Karaparamba, said she got fish from the local vendor at her doorstep at normal price. “He did not demand anything extra because of the strike,” she said. Merchants at the Nadakkavu fish market said the price of oil sardine remained stable throughout the period of the strike. The market price before the launch of the strike was ?80 and it remained unchanged till Thursday, they said. Mostly, supplies from Ratnagiri, Mumbai and Mangaluru met the demand of the local merchants of Kozhikode city. Though the harbours remained shut for more than a week, the local merchants got their supplies delivered at their places. Fish merchants from the city said the boat owners owing allegiance to the All Kerala Fishing Boat Operators Association were initially up in arms against the inter-State supply of fish. The association had even plans to block such vehicles near the Kerala border, but the move was cancelled fearing mass protest, they said. As some of the regular buyers were not ready to buy the stock of non-Kerala suppliers, the usual rush was minimal near the outlets of local merchants. Most of the door-to-door vendors got their usual stock from fishers who went to the sea by country boats. Fish species caught from rivers too supported the local market. Meanwhile, M. Vasu, a boat owner at Beypore, said the strike was a total success as it made the desired impact on a number of allied industries and exporting sector. “It is true that the local markets got their required supplies from other States. We had plans to block the outside supplies if the government rejected our demands,” he claimed.

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