Another reason for Indo-Pak tension: Lal Pari

The small, scaly red fish, that fetches good money in the international market, makes Indian fishermen cross the International Maritime Boundary Line only to be caught by Pak security personnel
By Pradeep Mallik & Shraddha Singh
Posted On Sunday, December 07, 2008 (Ahmedabad Mirror)

It is official. Lal pari is the real culprit, luring Indian fishermen to cross the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).

Living up to its name, the small scaly fish attracts fish workers from across the country and traps many of them into committing the crime, thus endangering the national security in case they are caught by Pakistan security personnel or are hijacked by terrorists, as it apparently happened in the case of Kuber.

Investigations in to the recent Mumbai terror attack suggest that Kuber was hijacked by Pakistan-based operatives, its crew slain and the trawler used by the terrorists, to enter Indian waters to launch an attack on Mumbai. Though not high on demand in the local market, Lal pari fetches good money in the international fish meat market, especially in Far East countries like Japan, Korea and Thailand. Hence, the maddening rush for its catch. Apart from Lal pari, the disputed Sir Creek has pomphret, goal, narsingha, gitka and jheenga (prawns).

An abundance of species and the lure of attractive incentives makes the mix heady enough for the trawler captain, called tandel, and his crew into crossing over to the Pakistan waters and run the risk of getting captured by Pakistan.

“It is sold for Rs 20-25 a kg in the local market, but fetches money in dollars in the international markets,” says Assistant Customs Commissioner M Umashankar. The boat-owners, fishermen, exporters talk glib about Lal pari, but Coast Guard officials are not amused. For, it is they who have to haul back the erring trawler crews into safe zones.

“At any point of time, you could spot thousands of boats in this creek so dangerously close to the IMBL. It becomes cumbersome to bring them back,” says Commandant KL Arun, the District Operations and Plans officer.

The backbone of Porbandar’s economy is the fishing industry. It has half a dozen major fish processing units which require tens of thousands of fish every month to stay financially viable. The commercial imperatives are such that the crew of a medium and large boat are expected to bring back about 12 tonnes of Lal pari from every voyage. Not complying with the demand may cost them their job.

According to Dhanesh Lodhari, Administrative officer at Pesca Products Pvt. Ltd, a fish processing and export unit in Porbandar, “The demand for this fish meat has decreased a wee bit due to recession in the international market. Yet, about 100 tonnes is processed on a daily basis.”

Lal pari is abundantly available in coastal waters, found on muddy or sandy bottoms, usually in schools. It feeds mainly on small fishes, crustaceans, mollusks (mainly cephalopods), polychaetes and echinoderms. It is marketed mainly fresh, but also frozen, steamed, dried-salted, dry-smoked, fermented or made into fish balls and fish meal.

Gujarat’s seafood industry exports frozen items to the US, Gulf and East and North Asian countries. In the past two years, in the absence of a commercially viable catch, the industry has shifted its focus to other fish items such as ribbonfish, croaker and Japanese thread fin bream, that are abundantly available in Sir Creek, near the IMBL. Not only the processors and exporters, even the fishermen are at the receiving end.

“It’s a seasonal business covering only eight months in a year — September to May. Reduced catches forces us to go fishing in Sir Creek and across. The main problem for us is the demarcation of the IMBL. Our fishermen are held captive even from the no-man’s zone after the IMBL. How do they (Pakistani officials) come so close to our border. Our national security is threatened,” says Sunil Gohel, Porbandar Municipality president.

“Lakhs of people on the coastal belt of Gujarat are directly affected. Investigations into Mumbai terror attack is only adding to our woes. The fishing community has become the fall guys. Everyone is blaming us, even though we were the first to lose our community in this attack - first the crew and later the captain,” Gohel says.

Lal pari: Most of the lal pari (Japanese threadfin bream) are of 12-25 cm-long but the common size for the smallest species is about 10 cm. It belongs to the Nemipterus japonicus family. This fish forms an important part of the trawl catch.It inhabits marine waters on sandy or muddy bottoms usually in depths of 20-50 m and feed on small benethic invertebraes and small fishes. Because of the white colour, smooth texture and strong gelforming ability of the its meat, it remains in great demand as a raw material for surimi.

2 varieties of Lal Pari

Trade Name : Japaneese Threadfin bream

Scientific Name: Nemipterus japonicus

French: Dorade

Japanese: Tai

Spanish: Esparido

Gear Used: Trawl and Gill netPeak

Season: August to February

Distribution: East and West coasts of India

Areas of Abundance: Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu and Gujarat coast

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Trade Name: Long Spine Sea Bream

Scientific Name: Argyrops spinifer

French: Dorade

Japanese: Tai

Spanish: Esparido

Gear Used: Trawl net and Gill netPeak

Season: August to February

Distribution: East and West coasts of India

Areas of Abundance: Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat coast