Fishermen have demanded a discussion on what they called a “disappearing act” once again in recent years by “enigmatic” oil sardines from the Kerala coast, where sardine fisheries directly support a population of at least 70,000.
Considering its importance in the State, the government must intervene and check illegal practices that eat into sardine fisheries and discuss and investigate the virtual disappearance of big-size sardines off the Kerala coast, said Antony Kurisinkal, a fisherman from Arthunkal and State committee member of the Kerala Swathanthra Matsya Thozhilali Federation.
He said what was being caught normally nowadays was above the legal size, and in the size range of 15 to 16 cm. But even these were not being landed frequently over the last month, he added. He claimed that around 90% of the large boats, usually engaged in sardine fisheries this time of the year, had been stranded owing to poor catch.
Indian oil sardine fisheries account for 17 to 20% of the total marine fish landings and used to be top-ranked in landing volumes. Its importance as a favoured table fish and rich source of fish oil creates a unique position for it in the fisheries economy. But the fish availability is prone to fluctuations and makes it an enigma to researchers, fishers, and managers, said scientists at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute in a study published in 2019.
Available data underscore the steep rise and fall in oil sardine catch in Kerala. Oil sardine landings on the Kerala coast was described as the lowest in two decades in 2019. In 2020, the volume of oil sardine landings in the State was 13,154 tonnes. In 2021, it went further down to a meagre 3,297 tonnes. This was described as the lowest since 1995. But the year 2022 was marked as a comeback year of oil sardine, and the Kerala coast saw total landings go up to 1.10 lakh tonnes. Most of the recovery in oils sardine landings in 2022 were in the second half of the year.
Mr. Antony demanded that the government stop illegal practices such as night trawling, light trawling, and pelagic trawling to help sardine fisheries make a comeback. He said fishermen in Alappuzha and Kollam districts appeared to have more luck this season with sardine fisheries, while there was quite an abundance of catch off the Tamil Nadu coast.
Marine fisheries expert Sunil Mohammed said sardines usually moved into deeper waters during the hotter season. The rise in temperature during these months was a factor that made sardines disappear from near the coast.
Charles George of Matsya Thozhilali Aikya Vedi, an independent fishermen’s union, said large-size sardines were being brought to Kerala from Tamil Nadu, where the fish was noticeably more abundant. But he called for a government initiative to end illegal practices such as deploying new boats and fishing gear despite a decision against it in 2015. According to him, the number of boats in sardine fisheries may have gone up to around 500 now from the previously agreed level of around 400.
He recalled that oil sardine catch had fluctuated with the first case of a steep fall in catch reported in 1861-62. There was a similar case in 1941-42. Oil sardines made a comeback in 1952. Steep falls were then witnessed in 1964 and later in 1994.
He said the government must also financially support fishermen, who abstained from fishing during the spawning season. Rethinking subsidies and providing for essentials could encourage fishermen who depended solely on sardine fisheries for livelihood, he added.
