The sea has become more unpredictable nowadays, and so, more intensified is the need to make communication instruments available for fishers. In this climate, Bangladeshi artisanal fishermen continue to brave the storm ill-equipped and headfirst. The Business Standard delves into the causes of the continued lack in use of modern fishing equipment that can save lives.
When we met Nargis Begum at her in-laws’ home in Kochua upazila in Bagerhat district, she was at a loss for words. She did not even turn, instead kept staring out the window with blank eyes.
Nargis was waiting for her husband Hafijul Babna (30), a sea-going fisherman, who had gone missing in a tempest in the Bay of Bengal two days earlier. The year was 2015, Nargis was 25 years old and seven-month pregnant.
Her wait never ended.
Her son, now seven years old, has never seen his father. That year alone (2015), Bhasha village in Dhopakhali union of Kochua upazila, where Hafijul lived, lost 19 of its men.
Such is life in the fishing villages across the coastal areas of Bangladesh. Wives and children wait for their husbands/fathers for their entire lives, because they don’t even know for sure if their loved one has died, especially because, in most cases, the body cannot be recovered.
The sons grow up hating the profession that took their father’s life and choose another livelihood, or once-rich fishing boat owners go into hiding unable to repay the loan after losing one or more fishing boats to the storm – these are just some of the appalling commonplace stories in these communities.
Every couple of years, dozens of fishing boats with hundreds of artisanal fishermen capsize in the Bay of Bengal.
This year is no different. At least 38 fishing boats from different coastal districts capsized last month. Many went missing, some were rescued, and at least 114 fishers ended up in India, still waiting to return.
This rather regular loss of human lives and property – boats, fishing gear and supplies – is attributed to a number of factors, among them are the dearth of modern equipment and rescue facilities, as well as the desperation of the boat owners and fishing hands to protect the investment made into each fishing trip.
“Our artisanal fishers go to the sea like blinds. They don’t have the equipment to locate fish schools, they don’t even have GPS devices or marine VHF radios. Fishing boat owners spend Tk1 crore to build a boat and Tk1-2 lakh for each fishing trip, but they cannot spend some money for the safety of the fishers or modernisation of the boats,” said Mirza Shahidul Islam Khaled, executive director of Sangkalpa Trust, an NGO that has been advocating and pushing for modernisation of artisanal fishing boats for a long time.