Oil Sardine, an emerging new fishery resource along the east coast

Abstract

This report gives a brief account of the present status of the oil sardine fishery along the east coast. Considering the oil sardine landings along the east coast it is seen that the landings were low during the period 1961-'81, ranging from one tonne to 1,011 tonnes with the annual average at 215 tonnes, and relatively high during recent years (1982-'86) ranging from 1,084 to 9,157 tonnes with the annual average at 3,797 tonnes. Thus, in recent years the landings of oil sardine along the east coast have shown a marked increase. Over the 26 year period under consideration, Tamilnadu and Pondicherry together accounted for 85% of the oil sardine catch landed along the east coast followed by Andhra Pradesh 11% and Orissa 4%.