The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Remote sensing satellites will help fishermen track shoals

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Saturday, May 31, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Remote sensing satellites will help fishermen track shoals

M. Raghuram

— Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.

REDUCING YIELD: A view of Malpe Harbour in Udupi.

Bangalore: With the marine fishing season 2007-08 set to come to an end on June 10, it is time for the State fisheries to take stock of the situation. The total fish landed during the season that began on August 15, 2007 till date was 1.74 lakh tonnes, it is expected to level off at about 1.80 lakh tonnes by the end of the season.

What is worrying the fisheries experts in the State is the size of common commercial variety mackerel and sardines was becoming smaller while the size of the catch was coming down.

Yield falls

In the fishing season 2007-08, the catch had come down by 10 per cent in all the three districts of Uttara Kananda, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada. The marine fish production from Karnataka coast has shown considerable variation. In 1996-97, it had reached a peak of 2.23 lakh tonnes and the lowest production of 1.28 lakh tonnes in 2001-02. Fish catch in 2006-07 reached 1.68 lakh tonnes and 26,723 tonnes of marine products estimated at Rs. 149.49 crore was exported from the State.

According to director of the Fisheries Department H.S. Veerappa Gowda, the commercial value created by the State fisheries was Rs. 800 crore. The Indian Remote Sensing Applications Centre (IRSAC) in Hyderabad had been giving readings of the remote sensing satellite to all fishing harbours to help fishermen track fish shoals.

Efforts would be made by the department to make the readings available to the fishermen early enough to launch an expedition to harvest the shoal. The use of fish finder and the GPS would be popularised among fishermen during the season 2008-09.

Mr. Gowda told The Hindu that the decrease in the catch as well as the size of the fish was because of juvenile fishing. The Karnataka Marine Fishing Regulation Act of 1986 had specified the size of the eyes of the net used in different seasons. But the rules were not followed and in the bargain even the juvenile fish were netted. If the specification of use of nets was followed seriously, the juvenile fish would escape from the net only to grow more in girth and reproduce for one or two seasons. The Fisheries Department planned to take up a massive awareness programme in the coastal areas through the cooperative societies, fishermen associations and social system of the fishermen communities to refrain from fishing juvenile fish.

The special study team constituted by the State Government in 2007 had reported that there was a need to strictly implement the Karnataka Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1986. The team had surveyed various fishing facilities and infrastructure in the coastal areas and had recommended upgrading of various structures on the coastlines.

According to a member of the team, Pramod Madhwaraj, the landing centres, quays, jetties and auction halls needed to be strengthened. Twelve river mouths on the western coast needed to be dredged as there were number of accidents in which dozens of fishermen perished every year and many boats had been destroyed.

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