Fishermen, worried over the small size of Indian sardines being caught off the Kerala coast, say the State government should step in to completely stop juvenile fishing and that the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) should study the phenomenon.
Kerala fishermen could not net big sardines even during the usual season when sardines were fat in keeping with the reputation of the Indian oil sardines, said Matsya Thozhilali Aikya Vedi convener Charles George on Wednesday.
Most of the large sardines being sold in Kerala markets came from fish-landing centres in Tamil Nadu like Nagapattinam and from Andhra Pradesh. Small sardines caught off the Kerala coast were sold for around ₹100 a kg in the retail market while at the auction centres these sardines fetched only up to ₹50 a kg for the fishermen, he added.
The fishermen felt that the State government and the Fisheries department should step in to end juvenile fishing under the guise of fishing for small sardines. Vehicles transporting juvenile fish to fish meal factories in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka should be seized, said Mr. Charles.
The traditional fishermen also wanted the CMFRI to study why the sardines appeared to be stunted in growth off the State’s coast. There had been abundant rain during the year till December, making it possible for sardines to grow to their full size. However, the fish species still remained small.
Call for stringent checks
Inspection of fish landing centres in the State should be more stringent to detect any violation of the minimum legal size (MLS) rules governing the fishing sector in the State. Kerala was the first State in the country to impose MLS on fish species to prevent destruction of resources.
Mr. George said that sardine fisheries had seen a virtual collapse since 2012. For about 10 years the catch had been poor. The fall in sardine catch resulted in socio-economic consequences for the traditional fishermen, who depended largely on sardine fisheries for their livelihood, he added.
In 2022, sardine catch stood at around 1.01 lakh tonnes. In 2023 it went up to 1.38 lakh tonnes. A revival was expected with sufficient rain and conducive conditions for multiplication of the common commercial fish.