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EveryFish

Fishing harbour, India

Ratnagiri and the Konkan coast

The main fishing town of Maharashtra's Konkan coast, with the Mirkarwada harbour and a college of fisheries.

Ratnagiri is the largest town on the Konkan coast south of Mumbai, a region of red cliffs, river mouths and fishing villages. Its Mirkarwada harbour lands mackerel, sardine, seer fish, pomfret and prawns, and the town is home to a college of fisheries that trains scientists for the west coast. Konkani food is built around fish cooked with coconut, kokum and red chilli.

Konkan fish

Bangda, the Indian mackerel, and tarli, the oil sardine, are the common catch. Surmai, the seer fish, and paplet, the silver pomfret, fetch the most. Smaller boats work the creeks and the near shore for mullets, prawns and crabs. Fishers along the Konkan coast belong to communities such as the Kolis and Bhandaris, with their own boats, nets and festivals such as Narali Purnima, which marks the end of the monsoon ban.

Pomfret and the purse seine

Purse seine fishing grew fast along the Konkan coast in the 2000s, bringing conflict with traditional fishers. Maharashtra has limited the purse seine season and banned LED light fishing. Concern over the falling catch of silver pomfret led the state to declare it the state fish of Maharashtra in 2023, and to look at size limits to protect young fish.

Still to be written: Indian mackerel, Indian oil sardine, Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel, Pampus argenteus, Largehead hairtail.

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