‘Klathi’ catch delights Pamban fishermen

A jubilant fisherman, V. Assisyan was taken by surprise by the fish landing on Monday. He said one of the boats in the fleet netted large amounts of the fish species known as ‘Klathi’. It weighed nearly seven and a half tones.

It was an unprecedented moment at Pamban that such massive landings of fishes have been witnessed. Many other boats also saw about five hundred kilos to five tones of fish.

Each of the fish weighed about 600 grams to 1,300 grams.

Normally during the days of August and September, fishing would be at a peak, but the catch was abnormally high this time.

Of the fleet of 110 boats, owners of most of the boats depending on their economic conditions let their boats into the sea on Sunday evening and returned to shore on Monday morning.

Since the fishermen aboard were content with the catch, about ten boats returned to shore on Sunday night. The fish species in deep-sea locating the fishing ground at 35 nautical miles off Pamban, sailing for almost two and a half hours.

During last year, the same fish variety fetched Rs.180 a kilo at procurement point, he said. Another fisherman, P. Jesuraja said such massive landings could be due to unusual weather conditions at sea.

This particular seafood variety caters to the needs of traders in Kanyakumari and parts of Kerala, from where a large volume is exported to European countries, he said.