Kerala: Oil sardine landing shows three-fold rise

KOCHI: The availability of oil sardine off the Kerala Coast has shown three-fold increase to touch 1.27 lakh tonnes in 2017 (Jan-Dec) as against 45,000 tonnes in 2016 helping the state to gain third spot in total fish landing in the country.  The increase in oil sardine availability also helped the state to register 12 percent increase in total fish landings for the state in the year, as per the data on fish landings in the country released by Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) on Tuesday.    

Indian oil sardine, showing a decreasing trend for the past few years, topped the list of marine fishery resources in 2017 with a landing of 3.37 lakh tonnes comprising 8.8 percent of total landings registering an increase of 38 percent all over the country. Speaking to reporters after releasing data, CMFRI director A Gopalakrishnan said the overall fish landing in the country has shown 5.6 percent increase in 2017 to 3.83 million tonnes compared with 3.63 million tonnes in 2016. “This is the highest catch after record-high landings in 2012”, the CMFRI report said.

The estimate of the value of marine fish landings based on price at landing centres across the country during 2017 was Rs 52,431 crores, showing an increase of 8.4 percent compared with 2016.  At the retail level, the estimated value of marine fish was Rs. 78,408 crores up seven percent increase over 2016. The unit price per kg of fish at the landing centre was Rs 137 while the unit price at the retail market level was Rs 204 per kg. 

According to Gopalakrishnan, the present marine fish catch is the second historical highest in India. “The upsurge in the marine fish production is a promising trend and it is observed that some new resources are emerging as the major fishery in many maritime states”, he added. Gujarat remained at the top position for the fifth consecutive year contributing 7.86 lakh tonnes representing 20.5 percent of total landings followed by Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Marine fish landings improved in all the maritime states other than Tamil Nadu and a palpable dip in the UTs of Puducherry and Daman & Diu.

“Revival of oil sardine in the western coastal states especially in Kerala played a major role in improving the country’s marine fish production this time”, said the CMFRI report. However, east coast witnessed a decline in the oil sardine catch with 83 percent drop in Andhra Pradesh and 36 percent in Tamil Nadu compared to 2016. A total of 788 marine fish species were landed this time along the Indian coast with maximum numbers landed along the Tamil Nadu coast followed by Kerala and Maharashtra.