Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje/Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (MD)
Mangaluru, May 17: Fishing enthusiasts and lovers of seafood had a field day at Pilikula here on Sunday May 17 as Dr Shivaram Karanth Pilikula Nisargadhama organised 'Fish Carnival' (Mastyaotsava), in collaboration with Karnataka Fisheries Development Cooperation and College of Fisheries.
The event which was being held in the city for the first time had both traditional and modern angling where a few lucky anglers filled their baskets with huge 'katla' (Bengal inland fish) and Rohu weighing minimum 2 kg, fished fresh from the lake.
A special stall by Karnataka Fisheries Development Corporation sold raw fish including katla, seer fish, butter fish, tiger prawns, pomfret, lobster, pink perch and rohu at a good price. Fish lovers, hoteliers and home makers were seen bargaining the price for the best catch.
A special stall by self-help group members at the venue prepared special dishes like fish fry, fish masala, fish kabab and many others on the spot. Fish lovers were seen enjoying the cuisine, relishing the authentic coastal taste.
Another section of the park was filled with buyers auctioning for the fish. A rohu fish weighing seven-and-a-half kg gained the top bidding with Rs 1,000, while another weighing three kg was sold for Rs 350. The vendors were busy auctioning crab and prawns of various sizes.
The event which is aimed at starting an Anglers' Club saw positive response from the crowd with a good number of registrations.
Addressing the media, deputy commissioner A B Ibrahim said that the management has decided to harvest fish varities like katla, rohu, mahseer and common carp, keeping in mind the interest for angling in the region.
"Angling is being developed as a sport, so based on today’s registrations, we have a plan to start a club in Pilikula where anglers would be trained through workshops and routine activities. This carnival, which also aims at bringing back crowd from technology to nature, is definitely a success as today we can see families visiting the park and enjoying the activities," he added.
The half-a-day event also witnessed a minor brawl between anglers and organisers as the former complained about lack of facilities.
While a few anglers said that they were not able to catch fish due to the presence of gill net in the lake, the others complained that the event was 'unorganized'.
Snake Babu from Mangaluru who is also a member of a private anglers association in the city said, "The organisers have left gill net in the lake which is restricting the angling activity today.
"As the fish are scared of the gill net the anglers are unable to get their share, which is disappointing. Owing to the gill net the expensive equipment of the anglers have broken. The place is conjusted as all the anglers are placed in the same area which is causing disturbance to the fishing activity," he added.
Overall, the unique event which saw participation of enthusiasts was a good platform despite the shortcomings in execution, as angling or sport fishing is possible on Indian rivers almost throughout the year except monsoon when fish are breeding.
Chairman of Shri Devi Education Trust Sadananda Shetty, Director Pilikula Biological Park H Jaya Prakash Bhandary, executive director S A Prabhakara Sharma, KAS (Retd), ZP CEO Sreevidhya, MLC Ivan D’Souza, fisheries joint director V K Shetty, Yathish Baikampady and others were present.