Serious lapse in safety Fishermen taken ill

Udupi: In a serious case of lapse of safety in the fishing vessels, a fisherman almost died of inhaling methane inside the hold of the vessel. The cause of release of methane inside the hold was the petrification of fish meal material stored inside and adequate ice was not used to cover it. The state of the fishermen (name withheld on request) is stated to be critical while a diver who pulled out the unconscious fisherman out of the hold is also admitted to hospital due to ingestion of methane.

The diving expert Eshwar Malpe who is known to have saved many people in water related risks in the past is stated to be out of danger.

According to fishermen in Malpe and Mangaluru these incidents of inhaling methane by the fisheworkers on the multi day fishing expedition has become common and is recurring short intervals. One of the senior fishermen recalled that the latest incident of methane inhalation was the third one in the last two months. Earlier incidents were mild ones but in both incidents fishworkers suffered temporary feeling of dizziness blurred vision and breathing problem. The fisheries academia say that frequent exposure to methane might cause brain damage and impaired vision and also neurotic problems.

The fisheries department is turning a blind eye to this problem. The boat owners cut down supply of ice for covering the low value -fish meal material to cut operating costs. However the owners make additional income by selling the fish meal to factories that produce manure and food pellets to feed the high value Shrimp farming in the brackish waters. The poor fishworkers innocently get into the hold many times during their expeditions and get exposed to methane.

A fishermen taskforce headed by late Fr. Thoman Kocherry president of the Nationnal Fishworkers Federation had recommended mitigating all the operational risks that the fishworkers encounter during multiday fishing expedition and wanted the government to provide them safety from many hazards and also insure the against health hazards and even death. But the fish ing boat owners had brought pressure on the government and had all the recommendations of the taskforce cancelled. Senior fishing boat owner recalled that the methane inhalation had been endured by the fishworkers for many years without knowing why and what was happening to them, some had even ascribed it to spirits they worshipped