A cruise through Ashtamudi Lake in the early hours of the day and you come across a spate of reef-like structures anchored underwater. As harmless as they look, these indigenous fish traps are contributing to the depletion of inland fish stock, especially the much-relished pearl spot and freshwater shrimp.
“It's an artificial habitat created for fish to breed. When these fish are caught, the breeding does not take place, resulting in a considerable dip in piscean population. Over the years these traps have done irreparable damage by preventing breeding and scooping huge volumes of juveniles. Despite monsoon being the season, we are yet to get a good harvest this year,” says Sugathan, a fisherman from Kavanad.
The method
This method, known as bush park fishing, is totally unscientific and illegal, yet you see hundreds of such aggregates in Ashtamudi and Vembanad Lakes.
“The aggregate they deposit in the water is mainly the branches and bark of pine and cashew trees. They spread it over 200 to 300 sq m and it remains underwater for a long time. Apart from exhausting the fish stock, these structures accelerate sedimentation, threatening the balance of the inland ecosystem,” says V.K. Madhusoodan, environmentalist and member of the environment committee of the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad.
When the Fisheries Department started removing the aggregate, locally known as padal, those involved opted for another method. They started depositing the aggregate in deeper areas so that the branches will not stick out, making it nearly impossible to locate.
“Now they keep the aggregate totally submerged using stones and as of now we can identify only 10% of it,” Mr. Madhusoodan adds.
Unscientific practices
There are other unscientific practices that include stake nets with smallest mesh size, Chinese nets with high-wattage LED lights, explosives and poisonous substances. “Due to all this, many valued varieties like scampi are now almost extinct. Apart from the scanty catch from the fish seeds released by the department it has become a very rare,” says Mr. Sugathan.
“There are many reasons for the depletion of some varieties and the department has been into many projects, including fish seed ranching, mangrove forestation and awareness campaigns,” says Fisheries Deputy Director Geethakumari.
The department has launched a crackdown on padal fishing along with intensifying surveillance strategies. “During our daily patrolling we identify padal spots and the very next day we remove it. We are planning to continue the drive and conduct mass clearing sessions in certain areas,” she adds.
