Climate change is driving fishes along India’s east and west coasts to migrate towards the polar regions. The catch of mackerel and other fishes increased in Goa this year because the fishes were migrating off the Kerala coast and moved slightly towards Goa. But the fishes are headed out of Goa’s coast towards the polar regions. This migration will severely affect Goa fisheries, said Sunil Kumar Singh, director of CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography (NIO).
Singh was speaking on Tuesday on the BITS Pilani KK Birla Goa campus. “This year, we are told that the catch of mackerel and other fishes was high,” Singh said. “Because of climate change, fishes are moving towards the poles, so oil sardine and other fishes are reducing along the Kerala coast and are slowly coming towards Goa. But they will move further towards the polar regions.”
Singh added, “Migration of fishes is occurring in the entire Atlantic too.” He said that the ‘dead zone’ along Goa’s coast will increase over the years. The zone signifies the area in which dead fish wash ashore.
“We have already witnessed a chaotic problem during the monsoon, with intermediate water getting into the coastal region. We observe tonnes of fishes dying in the estuary of the Mandovi near Caranzalem,” Singh said. “This is an annual phenomenon. Now, because of climate change, when the deepwater formation is reduced by half, the oxygen level will go down further and the dead zone will increase.”
In Goa, people are heavily dependent on fisheries, Singh said. “Fishes are dying and this will be a very chaotic situation,” he said. “The problem is a global problem and a huge problem.” Singh was speaking at the half-day Youth 20 (a part of G20 events) organised by BITS Pilani Goa campus in collaboration with Goa State Biodiversity Board (GSBB) and Goa State Climate Change Cell.