At 3 pm on a Sunday, the beach adjoining the fishing village of Bandaruvanipeta is bustling with activity as fishermen prepare to head out to sea for the night. The beach is lined with teppas (fishing boats) and large bundles of fishing nets. Bandaruvanipeta is situated along the Bay of Bengal in the Srikakulam district of northern Andhra Pradesh.

G Apparao and K Dasu sit atop bundles of gillnets, their tiffins and bottles of water by their side, waiting for the rest of their crew members to arrive. Together they carry the nets onto their boat – each net weighing about 70 kg – and with help from other fishermen on the beach, they push their motorised fibreglass teppa towards the water.

“Navigating our teppa through the forceful waves is quite challenging, especially when the sea is stormy. There are many rocks on this part of the coast, so we must be careful, especially during low tide,” says Apparao.

“We leave in the evening around 4 pm and come back the next day at 7 am. We go fishing at night because that is when we catch the big fish. However, we can never tell how much we’ll catch. Occasionally, when the catch is good, we earn up...