A typical day at Sassoon Dock begins at 5 am, with dozens of fishing boats agglomerating, and a mini army of fishers sorting their catch. Almost immediately fishing auctions begin, lasting till 11 am. On Thursday however, at 9.30 am, there-s an island of silence in the bustle. At the centre is an aged fisherwoman sitting under a shack, and fanning two pomfret to keep the flies away. "There are no fish in the sea," she rues. "This is all we could manage to catch today."

A few metres away, Srikant Koli is seated at the pier, where his boat is parked. A resident of Colaba-s Sunder Nagar slum, Koli recalls setting out to the sea in 1976, "I was only 14 years old then. Today, I have a small boat of 1,000 tonne capacity that a team of six men takes into the waters every day." Until last year, his crew would earn a total of around Rs 15,000 per day after selling stocks that include singara and mushi Indian cat fish—found off the coast of Mumbai. "This year, on an average we are only making Rs 2,000 per day. Imagine dividing this meagre amount among six men. There are no fish in the sea," the 57-year-old fisherman rues.