Huge Losses as High Temperatures Cause Fish Deaths

Deputy Director of Fisheries K. Sitarama Raju on Monday said that fish weighing 4,550 tonnes valued at Rs.22.75 crore perished in 9,900 acres on 29 and 30 April, reports TheHindu.

In Nandivada mandal, fish perished in 3,100 acres causing Rs.8 crore loss to aqua farmers. In Gudivada division, fish valued at several crores of rupees perished during April, May and June months, he added.

The reasons attributed for mass mortality of fish were high temperature and depletion of water levels in tanks owing to closure of irrigation canals for delta modernisation works. A report was submitted to the State government in May on this development, he said.

Kaikaluru Assistant Director (Fisheries) P. Ramakrishna Raju said the aqua farmers were raising fish in about 85,000 acres in tanks in Krishna district. These include Catla (bocha), Rohu (seelavathi), Mrigal (mosu), Indian major carp, Pangasius (a popular variety in Viet Nam and Thailand) grass carp, common carp, silver carp and Chinese major carp varieties.

We tested fish and water samples collected from the neighbouring tanks at the Government Referral Laboratory for Fish and Prawn located at Kaikalur. Most of the fish was infected with gill virus owing to dense population in tanks. The recent mass death of fish occurred in Kolleru lake was due to water reaching bottom level, said the AD.

The climatic changes had its detrimental impact in tanks at Kaikaluru, Kalidindi, Mudinepalli, Mandavalli mandals in the borders of Krishna and West Godavari districts, said Kaikaluru Fisheries Development Officer P. Suresh, who is also in- charge of the referral lab.