PANJIM: Although the news of huge fish catches on Goa’s beaches by fishermen causes a lot of excitement, there is a catch in it.
These small fishes which act as food for the bigger fish, are getting washed ashore as they try to escape from the warming of Arabian Sea coupled with low oxygen levels in the water beneath.
And if this trend continues for long, then we could have a situation where the fish stock could deplete and affect the marine economy adversely in future, says former acting director of National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) Goa, Dr S Prasanna Kumar.
Global climate change is causing rapid heating of the Arabian Sea. Water has the highest heat absorbing capacity, which means heat remains trapped under the sea water. Also the oxygen level is very low beneath the Arabian Sea.
“These are the two factors acting in tandem that could cause stress to the small pelagic fish such as sardine. To escape such conditions, these fish tend to come up on the sea surface and get washed ashore by the waves,” Dr Prasanna Kumar says.
This phenomenon has also been reported from the Atlantic as well as Pacific coasts. But of late, such cases are recorded at several places along the Indian coast.
“So, I suspect sea warming to be an increasing reason for the frequent occurrence. Water has the highest heat absorbing capacity, which increases the temperature of the water under the sea. Though the heating is slow, the heat is going to stay there as the ocean does not give up the heat easily. It will keep on storing it, which can be released only through phenomena such as tropical cyclones,” the former acting director of NIO says.
These small fish act as food for the bigger fish that we consume every day, like the kingfish.
“If the small pelagic fish moves away from the coastal regions into open ocean regions in search of better environment conditions, the predator fish will also follow them. It means that the availability of fish for the daily requirement from near the coast will decline and increase the overall fishing cost,” he says.
The fishermen will have to venture into the deep-sea more often. This would mean that the fish availability on the platter will reduce and also increase the retail price. Also, the environment pollution would be more.
“If the fish are going to move away from the coast to the open ocean in search of cooler conditions, it would mean that the fishing activity will have to go more and more offshore as well. This would mean you will burn more fuel. This will escalate fishing cost and add to CO2 concentration in the atmosphere,” the veteran marine scientist said.
“We’ll be paying much more money for the same fish that you have eaten otherwise. This will impact lakhs of lives dependent on the sea,” Dr Prasanna Kumar said.
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