El Nino blamed for 54% drop in oil sardine catch The New Indian Express dated 13th July 2019

Indicating the impact of warming up of coastal waters because of El Nino weather pattern, the country recorded a 54 per cent decline in the oil sardine catch in 2018. The annual marine fish landing data, released by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) here on Friday, revealed a 39 per cent decline in the catch of Kerala’s staple oil sardines in the state. While oil sardines dropped from the first spot to ninth position in marine fish landing recorded at 1,625 harbours across the country, Indian mackerel got the status of the most landed marine fish in the country recording a total catch of 2.84 tonnes in 2018. The total marine fish production in 2018 stood at 3.49 million tonnes recording a drop of 3.47 lakh tonnes (9 per cent) compared to the previous year’s catch of 3.83 million tonnes. The drop in fish landing has been attributed to the reduced catch in West Bengal, Karnataka and Maharashtra with a drop of 2.01 lakh tonnes, 95,000 tonnes and 86,000 tonnes, respectively