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EveryFish

Reef or sea, India

Lakshadweep

India's coral atolls in the Arabian Sea, where islanders still catch skipjack tuna by pole and line.

Lakshadweep is a chain of 36 coral islands, atolls and reefs in the Arabian Sea, off the coast of Kerala, of which ten are inhabited. Its lagoons and reefs hold a rich variety of reef fish, and its people have long fished the open sea around them for tuna. Minicoy, the southernmost island, is known for its pole and line tuna fishery, shared in method with the nearby Maldives.

Pole and line tuna

Fishers sail out in wooden boats, scatter live bait fish caught in the lagoon, and hook skipjack tuna one at a time on short poles as the school feeds at the surface. The catch is mostly skipjack, with some yellowfin. Much of it is boiled, smoked and sun-dried into masmin, a hard dried tuna traded to the mainland and abroad. The method catches almost no bycatch, but depends on a healthy supply of small bait fish.

Reefs at risk

The lagoons hold parrotfish, surgeonfish, groupers, Moorish idols and many other reef fish, and the reefs protect the low islands from waves. Bleaching events in 1998, 2010 and 2016 killed much of the coral, and recovery has been uneven. The islands rise only a few metres above the sea, so rising seas and coastal erosion are a serious long-term concern for the people who live there.

Still to be written: Skipjack tuna, Yellowfin tuna, Moorish idol, Green humphead parrotfish.

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