Good catch brings cheer in old port

MANGALORE: For the past one week old port is abuzz with the hustle bustle that accompanies a good catch following rich harvest of oil sardines. According to fisheries deputy director Suresh Kumar Ullal, at least one third of the 65 boats, that is engaged in fishing in the port, return with a bumper catch worth Rs 1.5 lakh per boat.
“Excess sardines after meeting the domestic demand are used in the fish meal industry.At least one third of the boats got sardines between 15-20 tonnes. Many boats could not go for fishing because of adverse weather conditions,’’ he said.
Oil sardine is an important pelagic resource supporting the marine fishery on the west coast of India. Two decades ago, the occurrence of this species along the coast was considered sporadic and rare.
However, fishermen dispute the claim of the fisheries department.
“Last December, we actually had a bumper harvest and each boat used to get about 30-60 tonnes. We do not consider 15-20 tonnes as a good catch,’’ said fishermen leader Umesh Karkera.
“If the sardine count per kilogram is about 35-45, it fetches a landing price of above Rs 8 per kg. Now what we get is 90 counts per kg. When bumper season starts it goes to 32-45 counts per kg, with fishermen netting bigger sardines,’’ he said.
In a busy fishing season almost 68 boats leave for fishing and the catch will be about 500 tonnes per day.
Fish catch for this year (till March) fetched better value at Rs 153 crore.
This is more than that of last year’s. Tonnage-wise, in DK district, sardines topped the list with 13,255 tonnes with a value of Rs 15.12 crore.