The fishermen venturing into Bay of Bengal near Gullalamoda lighthouse in Krishna district have witnessed a good catch of Indo-Pacific sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus), one of the fastest fish in the ocean.

The boatmen using gill net have sighted the fish, known as Nemali Konem among the marine fish exporters’ fraternity, in batches near the location where mostly they spot dolphins; off the 30-40 km coast from the lighthouse area. A group of fishermen, which went on four-day fishing on mechanised boat to catch tuna, has caught at least four Indo-Pacific sailfish, which have been immediately exported to Cochin on Sunday from Gilakaladindi harbour.

It appeared in dark blue colour on top and each weighted at least one-hundred kilogrammes. “We have seen batches of Indo-Pacific fish sailing on the blue waters. We hope this is the season to catch them,” said fishermen M. Jagga Rao and N. Durga Rao of Gilakaladindi village. It was learnt that the Indo-Pacific fish is one of the fastest sailing fish in the ocean as its top speed has been clocked at 109 km an hour.

On the left side of the body, it has a pectoral fin in dark sea blue colour that is visible while it is swimming and the fin designs resembles a peacock feather. “Since the fish feed on ‘tuna’ it was caught in our net meant for tuna,” Myla Kameswara Rao, one of the fishermen of the group told The Hindu.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by T. Appala Naidu / Machilipatnam – August 20th, 2014