How MSC Elsa 3 Cargo Ship Disaster Has Left Fishermen in a Debt Crisis

Joseph’s family is not isolated in the accident. According to Wrecked Futures, a recently released report from Pulluvila by Greenpeace India, a non-profit environmental organisation, the average income loss per family per day ranges from Rs 800 to Rs 1,000, considering fishing disruption from 24 May to 24 June.

Fish along the Kerala coast broadly fall into two categories—pelagic and schooling species that live near the surface, such as Indian oil sardines, anchovies, and mackerel; and demersal or reef-associated species that live on the seabed, including goatfish, groupers, and prawns.

Fishermen in the waters, however, notice a bad catch and even though there are no studies to link it to the shipwreck, they say, it cannot be a coincidence.

“August has been especially bad this year. Fish such as sardines tend to move away after a disaster like this, and the real impact will show only in the next season. With the ecosystem disturbed, fish production is bound to fall,” says Jackson Pollayil, 50, from Arthunkal village in Alappuzha, who’s the state president of the Kerala Swathanthra Matsya Thozhilali Federation, a trade union representing small-scale, artisanal fishers in Kerala.

The Greenpeace report mentions that the presence of plastic nurdles from the shipping container changed the ecosystem, to which the fish colonies are highly sensitive. “This year’s catch has been pathetic—most fishermen are bringing in only small varieties like Netholi,” Joseph says.