Varkala Fishermen

Commercial fishing is always a terribly difficult and dangerous occupation and here in Varkala you can add not very productive to that list. At 6 in the morning we heard a commotion outside our hotel and from the balcony we watched two lines of men, a hundred yards apart, hauling in a rope that was attached to fishing nets at least 500 meters out at sea. It took over an hour to get the nets to shore and the take was disappointing, I am sure. There were mostly sardine-size fish, one or two slightly larger butterfish, and a whole lot of trash. That night when we ordered fish in the seaside restaurant I thought about how much work it took to get it on my plate.