Cold winds have compelled majority of fishermen to stay away from fishing. Current trend is likely to continue for a week. The cold gusts have brought nearly 70 percent of boats to moorages, which are likely to stay on the coast for another one week.
"Winds are strong enough that compel the fishermen to remain on shores waiting until the weather normalizes," president of Native Islanders Fishermen Association, Asif Bhatti, said on Thursday. He further said that seafood catch declined in due to cold spells as fish species either plunged to seabed or swam miles away into deep ocean. He said that fresh spell of winds have come two months later, which is an abnormal weather pattern, bringing fishing to a halt in December.
"These winds were expected to blow in September as per the lunar circles, according to the fishermen calendar. This shows an abnormality in the weather pattern," Bhatti said, adding that it left the fishermen to revisit their entire hunting plans for winter season. The fishermen, who brought back their vessels to coasts, are also concerned about the uncertain weather system. Now fishing would take at least one more week to resume, he said.
To a question, Bhatti said that the winter catch is always a difficult hunt for a fisherman because of cold winds with less species on the surface. "Fishing can be done only within a fishing line as fishnets are successful to trawl over fish schools," he said, adding that suwa, a high priced fish like dothar, albo, gisser, swim in shoals. He said they can be caught in nets easily but at least 25 nautical miles off the coast.