Page 32 - CIJ April 2025- Digital Edition

SPECIAL REPORT

morning will be sent, based on
a previous night phone call to
list my requirements and what is
available next morning. I still do
the occasional Bhayandar trips, it
is tougher from the energy levels
viewpoint.
“Fish supplied in Mumbai to
hotels usually has been caught
two weeks before, unlike in
Goa where the morning’s catch
is delivered to kitchens by
evening. These huge trawlers
need four days in the ocean
fishing spots to fill to capacity
with the catch from the sea,
the return journey is another
four days, i.e. 10-12 days to
reach the shore, two more days
for the supplies to be delivered to
the buyers.”
From June 1 to August 15,
fishing is banned in coastal
of the Maharashtra due to the breeding
supply preferred period. “Farm fish from Kolkata
as it is, place, (Bengal), Chilka Lake (Odisha),
marinate the rest just outside Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh)
and use as and when the railway station. The reach Mumbai’s Crawford Market
the orders come. I prefer to keep restaurant owner states: “I went by railway during these months.
stock for a maximum of two days; early morning 4.00 am daily to The catch is distributed all over
beyond that I avoid storing, to offer select seafood fresh off the boats, the city. Smaller in size and sold at
my customer the best.” from 2003 to 2020 till higher rates, buyers have
to manage with
Fresh fish selection was learnt the lockdown. Now this as no
from actual demos, accompanying it is delivered other
his mother as a kid to the market. by a trusted
“My guru was my mother. She fisherfolk
showed me how to identify a contact.
mackerel (bangda) by holding it Fresh
up by the tail. A straight mackerel catch
is fresh, bent or to the side is to be on
avoided. King mackerels (surmai) sale
are slippery to touch, gills of fresh that
salmon (ravas) and fresh halwa
(black pomfret) are blood red.
Pomfret should leak white water
when the gills are pressed, freshly
caught prawns are glossy, Bombay
Duck (bombil), semi-transparent
and glossy are fresh stock, while
crabs with hard shells are to be
preferred, ones with soft shells
not worth the money. Clams with
closed mouths are fresh catch.”
A wholesale fish market at
Bhayandar (Thane district) is his

32 APRIL 2025•Clean India Journal•www.cleanindiajournal.com