Experts see early signs of oil sardine recovery

KOCHI: The availability of oil sardines, considered as the backbone of marine fish catch in the state, has shown “early signs of recovery” in 2017 after hitting a two-decade low of 45,000 tons in 2016, say scientists in the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI). Oil sardines had shown a sharp increase to 1.25 lakh tons in 2017, they said. The news is likely to cheer the coastal areas facing multiple problems including the devastation caused by Ockhi Cyclone. According to fishermen, the fall in oil sardine landings had caused a loss of nearly Rs 10,000 cr for Kerala.    

Scientists in CMFRI feel if the early signs of the revival seen in 2017 persists, the catch may move up significantly in 2020. The oil sardine catch scaled a high of 3.99 lakh tons in 2012 before showing a drastic decline in 2016.   V Kripa, senior scientist at CMFRI, attributed the revival to better resources management and conservation efforts in the past two years. A cyclical trend was noticed in oil sardine availability in 15-20 year period cycles, she said, and added that 1994 marked the lowest landings on the Kerala Coast. Making a presentation of oil sardine landings on the Kerala coasts over the years, Dr Adbul Samad, another scientist in CMFRI pointed out the seasonal, annual and decadal factors in the availability of fish.

The seasonal factor was influenced by human intervention such as overfishing while the annual factor was determined by biological reasons like juvenile fishing. The decadal factor was influenced by climatic factors, he said. Dr. Samad pointed out that during 1994 and 2016, which saw a sharp decline in oil sardine landings, the seawater became warmer due the influence of the El-Nino factor. According to Dr. Kripa, despite the signs of revival, the authorities concerned should not reduce conservation efforts and vigil. “The conditions in the sea have shown improvements but we should not be oblivious to issues such as jelly fish boom mostly caused by human activity in and around the coastal regions,” she said.