This story is from July 2, 2019

A village famous for crabs struggles to make profits

A village famous for crabs struggles to make profits
Chennai: Fishermen in the village of Vellapatti in Tuticorin district net more than 500kg of crabs a day, but profits have eluded them. Caught in a debt-trap, short-changed by middlemen and without any access to direct marketing the fishermen are left at the mercy of private agents who buy most of their catch.
The villagers are compelled to sell it to private parties for cheaper prices and this takes away a big share of the profit, says S Arokya Selvaraj, a fisherman-turned-activist.
"We sell the catch to private parties who sell them to big companies at a higher price," he said. One kilogram of big crabs fetches at least `300 and small ones are sold for `150 per kg. "They agents take only the big ones to maintain quality. The leftovers go to the local market for a cheaper price," said Selvaraj.
To keep the sale under control, the middlemen have opened four boiling units in the village where the crabs are cleaned, boiled for preservation and packed. "After boiling and cleaning, they are taken to Tuticorin and sold at a better price. Lack of support is the main problem for us," said K Augustine, a fisherman.
Since most of the fishermen keep borrowing a few thousands from the middlemen, the catch has to be sold to them to pay off debts, but soon fresh debts build up. "This has been happening for a long time. Since the fishermen must return the money, they have no other option but to sell their catch to the agents. If there is a system of direct marketing, it will help these fishermen a lot," said S Velvizhi, a scientist with the Fish for All Research and Training Centre of the MS Swaminathan Research Centre in Poompuhar.
Fisherfolk in Vellapatti turned to the crab business in 2001 after the government banned coral mining. "Those days, we would get big crabs, but today the catch has come down. More than 150 fishermen venture into the sea every day. But still, we manage to get enough during December and January, which is considered the season," said Augustine.
Villages such as Vellapatti, Theresapuram, Vethalai and Periyapattinam along the Gulf of Mannar have the maximum crab diversity. Marine scientists have recorded 60 individual crab species from these landing centres, but most crab species here belong to the family of Portunidae. Vellapatti has a great diversity of swimming crabs.
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