Recent Trends in Sea Surface Temperature and its Impact on Oil Sardine

Vivekanandan, E and Rajagopalan, M and Pillai, N G K (2009) Recent Trends in Sea Surface Temperature and its Impact on Oil Sardine. In: Global Climate Change and Indian Agriculture. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, pp. 89-92.

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Abstract

The oil sardine is a coastal, pelagic schooling fish, forming massive fisheries in India. It has high population to doubling time of less than 15 months and is probably the largest stock in the Indian Ocean (www.fishbase.org). Like many other small pelagics, the oil sardine also has shown pbpulation crashes and sudden recoveries in the past. It is a tropical fish, governed by the vagaries of ocean climatic conditions. It is known for its restricted distribution in the Malabar upwelling region along the southwest coast. It attains a maximum total length of about 22 cm and plays a crucial role in the ecosystem as a plankton feeder and as food for large predators. The annual average production is 3.8 lakh tones (15% of all India total catch) valued at about Rs 350 crores. It is a cheap source of protein and forms a staple, sustenance and nutritional food for millions of coastal people.

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