Huge sardine swarm leaps en masse to escape Indian fishermens' nets
- 6 years ago
Fishermen off the Indian coast witnessed a unique phenomenon on Monday (November 12), where a huge catch of sardines swarmed and leapt en masse to try and escape their nets.
The fishermen were working off the coast of Mattu in Udupi, Karnataka in southern India, and were surprised when they pulled up their nets and finding them overloaded with sardines, known locally as boothai.
The fish are well known for being made into mouth-watering local delicacies, but are now the subject of controversy over regulation measures being taken to preserve their falling numbers.
The sardine population has been in steady decline due to climate change, over-fishing and depletion of juvenile fish populations, causing an extended ban to be laid on catching sardines during the monsoon season.
This may have spurred an increased density of sardine shoals, causing the massive catch filmed here.
The fishermen were working off the coast of Mattu in Udupi, Karnataka in southern India, and were surprised when they pulled up their nets and finding them overloaded with sardines, known locally as boothai.
The fish are well known for being made into mouth-watering local delicacies, but are now the subject of controversy over regulation measures being taken to preserve their falling numbers.
The sardine population has been in steady decline due to climate change, over-fishing and depletion of juvenile fish populations, causing an extended ban to be laid on catching sardines during the monsoon season.
This may have spurred an increased density of sardine shoals, causing the massive catch filmed here.