Will state fish status save Maha-fav paplet?

Apart from depleting in number, silver pomfret has also shrunk in size with the super pomfret (weighing 500 gm and above) catch dropping from 1,46,797 kg in 1990-91 to a staggering 4,508 kg in 2022-23

Following fervent appeals by the fishing community to the state and central governments to protect the fast-depleting silver pomfret, on Monday, the fish was declared the State Fish by Sudhir Mungantiwar, state minister for Forests, Cultural Affairs and Fisheries.

Mungantiwar invited Chandrakant Tare, a fisherman turned banker and chairman of the Satpati Fishermen Sarvoday Sahakari Society Ltd, along with other fisherfolk, to the Yashwantrao Chavan Centre at Nariman Point for the announcement. Tare and and members of the Koli community from Satpati village in Palghar, had been appealing to the state and central governments for long to protect the fish.

Mungatiwar told mid-day that preserving the silver pomfret is at the top of the state government's agenda. The fish, he said, is already being promoted under the One Station One Product (OSOP) scheme, an initiative introduced by the Railways, as part of the Vocal for Local vision of the Government of India, to provide a market for indigenous products and create additional income opportunities for local communities.

"This is an important fish for the fishing community, which earns a huge revenue from its export. The fishermen have been appealing for it to be declared the ‘state fish'. Since the Union Minister of Fisheries [Parshottam Rupala] was visiting Mumbai, we thought it would be a good time to make the announcement." A GR has been issued in this regard. "Work will now begin on the preservation, development and marketing of the fish."

mid-day's report

The naming of a state fish - a first for Maharashtra - comes a week after mid-day on August 27 highlighted how thousands of Koli fishermen living in Satpati, home to the Golden belt that's rich with precious catch, were staring at a loss of livelihood as the silver pomfret, known as saranga locally, was succumbing to unrestrained fishing, rampant infrastructure development and a rapidly warming Arabian Sea.

Not only had the fish haul dropped by nearly 50 per cent in the last few decades, it had also shrunk in size with the super pomfret (weighing 500 gm and above) catch dropping from 1,46,797 kg in 1990-91 to a staggering 4,508 kg in 2022-23. According to experts, the warming ocean has prompted many fish, including pomfret, to move towards the Gujarat coast, and from there on, to the coastline near Pakistan.

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Tare, who had met Union Minister of Fisheries Parshottam Rupala in Delhi on August 15, to request that saranga be given the status of a State Fish says it's a big win for the fishing community of Satpati. Rupala was also present during Monday's event. "Parshottamji had assured to look into the demand after consulting with the Maharashtra government. We are grateful to him and Mungantiwarji for keeping their promise," he shared over a call.

However, he said, that their victory will only be sweeter if the state intervenes and works towards the protection of the fish. "We have appealed to the state to extend the ban on fishing during the breeding season from the present 61 days [June 1 to July 31] to 75 days," he said. The fishing ban is meant to help the pomfret mature. "It will help them grow to their fullest size," said Tare. He has also urged the state government to look into illegal fishing activities, overfishing, and a ban on the sale and fishing of juvenile pomfret, all of which, he says, have contributed to the decline in catch.

Doesn't solve crisis

Not everyone feels that declaring the silver pomfret as the state fish will resolve the current crisis that fishermen are reeling under. Prof Bhushan Bhoir, oceanographer and assistant professor at a suburban college, shared a few reservations. "I don't think it should have been named the State Fish," he said, "The silver pomfret doesn't have its origins in Maharashtra. It's a fish that was first found in the coastal borders of Gujarat, and Daman and Diu, on the sandy beds."

He feels that the bronze croaker, which is a pucca local fish, deserved this status instead. Bhoir, who has done research on the marine biodiversity in and around Vadhavan in the Palghar district, said that in Maharashtra the silver pomfret's habitat is restricted to the Dahanu and Palghar regions. "That's also where the Vadhavan port is coming up. According to reports, around 5,000 acre of land is to be reclaimed from the sea to build the R65,000-crore port. Historically, that's the area where this fish is being caught. If the government has really decided to protect the silver pomfret, it also needs to preserve its breeding and feeding places. Otherwise, it wouldn't make any sense," he said.

The silver pomfret, however, remains an important source of livelihood for the fishing community in the Palghar region. Villagers in Satpati earn a revenue of Rs 24 crore from the export and the local sale of the fish. Ganesh Nakhawa, a seventh-generation Koli fisherman, who runs the popular Instagram handle @thelastfishermanofbombay, said that going forward, the state government should introduce policies that ensure replenishment of the silver pomfret population.

"Now that it's been declared the fish of the state, it shouldn't mean that people see it as a way to eat more of it," he said. "This step has been taken to spread awareness about the fish and preserve its ecosystem. There's no way of completely banning the fish from being consumed, but the government should introduce policies that are not just focused on the fishermen, but also the buyers." According to him, the consumption and purchase should be restricted as well. "Restaurants should not be allowed to sell silver pomfret, at least during the breeding months. Only if policies are designed keeping in mind all stakeholders, can we resolve the present problem."

With inputs from Devanshi Doshi