Aveda Resorts and Spa Turned their Pool into a Fishery

Quarantine was all about brushing up skills or learning new skills, at least for the few of us. Here is how the faculties and the management of the Aveda Resorts and Spa, located in the backwaters of Kumarakom, made their quarantine productive.

Apart from the other sectors that were affected by the COVID pandemic, tourism was among the ones that faced a steep dip in their profits. Tourism alone forms around 5.06% of India’s GDP. Economic instability is the last thing we want in 2020.

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The faculty and management of Aveda Resorts and Spa had been grappling with the maintenance of their resort and payment of salaries to their staff. An idea that hit them during a brainstorming session on making their quarantine more productive and worthwhile led to the transformation of their swimming pool into a fish farm. The 150m long and 50m wide pool fosters pearl spots or our traditional karimeen; it has helped them gain a nominal amount for the maintenance of their cottage. The team had to initially spend around 3 lakhs to set up the fish farm out of which 2 lakhs were spent in buying the seedlings. They were aided by the National Center for Aquatic Animal Health, a branch of Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT).

“The rectangular pool is 150 meters in length and 50 meters in width, with even depth which is ideal for aquaculture. We started fish farming on June 1, which would give us sufficient time for the harvest by Christmas. We hope to earn about Rs 20 lakhs by exporting the fish to the Gulf by Christmas when the demand is very high. But the demand would be hardly enough to cover our losses” stated General Manager, Jyotish Surendran, to The Telegraph.

The team of Aveda also plans to resume the fish farm in an alternate place once the tourism industry gets back to its full swing. They are not ready to let go of a skill that they have learned during this pandemic.

Apart from Aveda, we have seen certain other organizations and individuals finding alternative incomes. The artists from Kerala’s prestigious theatre group KPAC had made masks to sustain them during this period which was otherwise a season for their shows. We also saw the wide growth of home bakers and YouTubers. All this makes one wonder if we’ll emerge from this pandemic with multiple income streams or if these are just temporary gigs.