Uppuveli Fishemen

Thursday, September 21, 2006


"Fishing has become a very difficult job here. Because we can't go beyond five kilometers to fish.Therefore the catch is very less", says Senkanthi (44) of Kanniya

Uppuveli has a beautiful beach. Aqua sports such as wind surfing, rowing used to take place in the Uppuveli beach earlier. But due to the situation tourists arrivals are less than year before according to the hoteliers in this area.

The beach is empty with some fishermen from Kanniya come here to fish. They neither stay long in the sea nor shore. They try to sell the fish on the shore, and leave home as quickly as possible. They stay almost twenty kilometers away from the sea.


Fish is sold for cheaper price here


"I was affecetd by Tsunami. I am still living in a temporary shelter. I neither have my own fishing boat nor fishing net. I go to the sea with the fellow fishermen, and earn a daily income, which is not a lot. But I have to manage with what I earn", says Julius (44) of Kanniya


Fishermen say that they are afraid to go to the sea, as and when they wish, because of the prevailing situation


"Once we leave our homes, we are not sure whether we will return to our homes safely or not. The current situation is getting worse. But we can't stay at home. We have to take care of our families", says Chithravel Thangarasa (49) of Kanniya


Not many tourists go to the beach in East coast, due to the situation


Sometimes the fishermen go to the sea for more than once, if they did not get a good catch for the day