There is nothing gentle about the sea-faring man except his salt-tossed hair, you think as you gaze upon the weather-beaten face of A. Moraeis (49).
Local fishermen who don’t have the stomach for long spells out in the deep sea have the highest regard for these men from Kanyakumari district. Moraeis and his nine mates have come into the Vypeen harbour after 12 days out on sea. Their haul of Japanese threadfin bream and deep sea prawns have fetched just Rs 2.62 lakh at the auction, less than the Rs 3 lakh they have spent. There’s no time for brooding though as they must set out again to make good the loss.
“I began fishing on a country craft when I was 13 and I have been going out to sea for the past 36 years. Those days we never ventured this far into the ocean. This is the third vessel named Mobein Shah that I have been attached to. We are well known in all the harbours, right from the Mangalore coast to the east coast.”
“Usually we set out at night after a good hearty meal with enough provisions of milk and sugar for our tea and even some cake and biscuits from the bakeries. But as the days pass our meals become just rice and fish curry three times a day. We watch a film 4-5 times to break the monotony. This time we watched Rajnikant’s Chandramukhi over and over again. We never sit idle. We mend the nets, do something or the other to keep us from thinking of our families.”
“Once the engine on our boat failed and we were out in the middle of the sea for 10 long days. Our provisions dried up and our water was almost gone. The catch began to rot so we threw it out and then we were left with only the ice that we used to store the fish. We lay around too sick to move till a boat found us. We were lucky for many boats go missing in the storms, never to be found.”
“We have to give 65 per cent of our profits to the boat owner and 35 per cent we split among ourselves. The next time we make a profit we will have to account for today’s loss as well. This time there is nothing for me and my family back home. My two children....” Tears well up in his eyes and he blinks. And you thought sea-faring men don’t cry.
