Cage fish farmers across Ernakulam district suffered massive losses in the recent floods. Farmers of Pizhala, Kadamakkudy, Kothad, Aluva, Gothuruthu, and Kottappuram had seen their fish cages getting washed away, and fish had either gone missing or were dead,” said P.V. Santhosh of Thottakkattukara near Aluva. A senior scientist at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), which has been encouraging farmers to take up cage fish farming, said most farmers lived near waterbodies that saw massive flooding. A majority of them are yet to return home from relief camps, and a process is under way to quantify the financial loss they have suffered, she added. The scientist also said that efforts would be made to see whether the fishermen could be compensated. Sreekumar Vasudevan of Kadmakkudy, a veteran cage fish farmer, said around 150 fish cages had been washed away or seriously damaged in and around Kadamakkudy panchayat. The flooding and crop loss are also a setback to efforts by the CMFRI to spread the culture of cage fish farming. In a recent move, the institute had announced the launch of a ₹15-crore project to help fish farmers launch around 500 cage farming units in the State. The programme is supported by the National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad. Mr. Santhosh said he had taken up farming pearlspots, tilapia, and catfish. By a rough estimate, he said, he had lost four cages costing around ₹10 lakh. The cages had fish ready for harvest during the Onam season. He now plans to advertise in newspapers appealing to people to return the cages if they found them. He said he had spent around ₹80,000 per cage, fabricating and mooring them in the waters. Source - https://www.thehindu.com