The sun is about to set. All the ships are docked. The day is about to end but the Diu dockyard is abuzz. Workers unload containers of fishes. Ice crushing machines are hard at work to keep the day’s catch fresh. And taking stock of the catch at his godown is Laksham Jiva Solanki, a stocky 60-year-old man in crisp, spotless white shirt. Sitting on a plastic chair, Solanki watches as fishes are sorted by sizes and varieties, weighed, loaded into containers, along with layers of crushed ice, and being readied to be shipped. But the bustling waterfront belies the lethargy in trade. Since August last year, our catch has been good. But our earnings have crashed, says Solanki. Most of his catch are exported to China. And the procurement prices offered by the Chinese have crashed. For example, prices of ribbon fish an important export for Solanki has crashed from Rs 100-120 a kg last season to Rs 50-60. We are under water. We won’t even recover our costs, asserts Solanki. He owns six ships and employs 40-plus workers. But he may have to let a few workers go if things don’t improve. Doklam Echoes The troubles for the fishermen began in August, when India and China agreed to end their Doklam face-off and pull back troops. Temperature in the cold Himalayan Plateau had shot up last summer when the two Asian giants sparred over a tri-boundary area (the third country being Bhutan). Since August last year, we have been seeing a sharp dip in the prices of fish that Chinese importers offer our fishermen, says Sukar Anjani, assistant superintendent of fisheries, Diu.