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EveryFish

Fishing harbour, India

Kasimedu, Chennai

Chennai's busy fishing harbour and market at Royapuram, where vanjaram, the seer fish, is king.

Kasimedu is a fishing neighbourhood of north Chennai beside the Royapuram fishing harbour, on the Bay of Bengal. Every morning trawlers and fibre boats land their catch, and the auction and retail market draws crowds, especially on Sundays. It is the main source of fresh sea fish for Chennai, and its fishing families have worked this shore for generations.

The market

Vanjaram, the seer fish, is the most prized catch in Chennai, fried as thick slices. Sankara, the red snapper, vavval, the pomfret, nethili, anchovies, and mathi, the sardine, are sold beside prawns, crabs and squid. On the east coast the monsoon fishing ban runs from 15 April to 14 June, so supplies and prices shift sharply in those weeks, and many families turn to fish from other states or from farms.

Coast and conflict

Fishers from Tamil Nadu often cross into Sri Lankan waters in the Palk Bay, leading to arrests and seizure of boats, a recurring issue between the two countries. Along Chennai's own coast, port works and erosion have changed the shore. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami struck Chennai's fishing villages hard, and many boats and homes were lost.

Still to be written: Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel, Indian mackerel, Pampus argenteus, Indian oil sardine, Indian anchovy.

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