CMFRI findings reveal alarming depletion in Indian oil sardine catch by 75 percent in one year, lowest since 1994.
Published Jul 06, 2022 | 3:48 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 23, 2022 | 4:09 PM
Indian oil sardine catch falls 75 percent in an year. (Image: CMFRI)
Kerala’s staple fish — the Indian oil sardine, locally known as Mathi or Chala — is abandoning its coast.
It has been found that the catch of the fish dropped as much as 75 percent in just the last year.
The climate-change-induced unprecedented rise in seawater temperatures and changes in water-current patterns in the Arabian Sea are the primary causes of the migration of the fish, according to the Kochi-based Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI).
The institute has also found that the situation aggravated after the El Niño Southern Oscillation.
CMFRI scientist TM Najmudheen told South First that data collated by the institute shows that the catch in 2021 was around 3,297 tonnes: the lowest since 1994 in the state.
According to the CMFRI, the annual average sardine availability in the state from 1995 to 2020 was 1.66 lakh tonnes.
Along with sardines, catches of popular fish varieties like the silver belly and the black pomfret have also shown a sharp decline.
However, the catch of penaeid prawns, squid, and threadfin breams increased significantly last year.
Najmudheen told South First that only strict measures against juvenile fishing — the catching of fish that are yet to attain adulthood, when they can breed and create more of their species — could ensure the continuation of oil sardines along the Kerala coast.
How much Indian oil sardine was caught over the years. (South First)
He said juvenile fishing of the Indian oil sardine was causing economic loss and depletion of resources, and there must be a complete ban on fishing sardines during the breeding season.
The CMFRI has written to the state government not to exempt small-scale operators from the fishing ban enforced during the breeding season.
Fish workers’ union president Charles George told South First that the government must ban fishing nets with small mesh sizes.
George said fuel prices and dwindling catch are making life miserable for the fishing industry in the state.
Meanwhile, Najmudheen said climate change had eclipsed all the favourable conditions in the marine ecosystem of the Kerala coast, inhibiting the growth of oil sardines.
“We have sought Kerala Fisheries Minister Saji Cheriyan’s intervention to regulate the fishing of juvenile sardines.
Allowing juvenile sardines to grow at least for the next three months will help enhance the revival of the fish variety on the Kerala coast,” said CMFRI’s principal scientist EM Abdu Samad.
“Known as Mathi or Chala in Malayalam, oil sardines are Kerala’s staple fish variety. If their catch is regulated at least during the breeding season, the migration also can be curtailed to a certain extent,” he said.
Abdu Samad said, “The Indian oil sardine was an enigmatic fish till recently”. According to him, there were a few occasions in the last hundred years when Indian coasts witnessed alarming depletion in their number.
In the 1940s, the sardines disappeared almost entirely from the southern coasts of India, and the British rulers even banned sardine fishing.
The ageing fish laboratory of the CMFRI has found that the El Niño effect is still prevailing and has stunted the growth of oil sardines considerably. They now lay fewer eggs as well.
The decline in catch has pushed up the price of oil sardine, which was very cheap till even 15 years ago, and caused the withdrawal of sardines from the menu of both households and restaurants.
Under public pressure, fish vendors have imported sardines from Oman in the last four years, but they had few takers in Kerala as people claim there is a huge difference in taste between the two fish, said George.
The Oman variety is wider in appearance as well, he added.
The Indian oil sardine, sold for less than ₹100 per kg till a decade ago, is now more than ₹500 per kg.
Oil sardine used to constitute one-third of the total catch in Kerala.
Besides their rich taste, sardines are known for their health benefits.
They are rich in Omega 3 fatty acids and vitamins D, A and B12.
They are low in mercury levels, widely regarded as being good for healthy skin and hair.
