KOLLAM: Fishermen along the Kollam coast had a prize catch on Tuesday, without even venturing into the sea.
A swarm of 3 spot sea crabs scrambled out of the sea along the coast, from Eravipuram to Tangasseri Harbour, that day. The phenomenon continued well into Wednesday afternoon.
The 3 spot crabs ( portunus sanguinolentus) are edible and are even exported. Upon sighting the crabs, the fishing community, sensing a windfall, flocked to the beach. Huge quantities were there to be picked for the markets and to be shared with friends and relatives.
Some enterprising youngsters wanted to catch the crabs from the sea itself and moved to the waters with scoop nets. They too had a rich haul. Even senior fishermen of the area do not recall a precedent. Last year, red crabs, which are inedible, had crawled out of the sea.
However, marine biologists are wary about the development.
They fear that anaerobic conditions in the sea could have forced these crustaceans to flee to the shore in desperate search for oxygen.
At times, oxygen gets depleted at an alarming rate in vast areas of the sea bed, creating dead zones.
This causes the ‘jubilee phenomenon' wherein dwellers of deep sea like crabs, shrimps and eels teem along the waters edge.
Fishermen of the area said that by Wednesday evening, the phenomenon had subsided.
Source: The Hindu,18-11-2010
A swarm of 3 spot sea crabs scrambled out of the sea along the coast, from Eravipuram to Tangasseri Harbour, that day. The phenomenon continued well into Wednesday afternoon.
The 3 spot crabs ( portunus sanguinolentus) are edible and are even exported. Upon sighting the crabs, the fishing community, sensing a windfall, flocked to the beach. Huge quantities were there to be picked for the markets and to be shared with friends and relatives.
Some enterprising youngsters wanted to catch the crabs from the sea itself and moved to the waters with scoop nets. They too had a rich haul. Even senior fishermen of the area do not recall a precedent. Last year, red crabs, which are inedible, had crawled out of the sea.
However, marine biologists are wary about the development.
They fear that anaerobic conditions in the sea could have forced these crustaceans to flee to the shore in desperate search for oxygen.
At times, oxygen gets depleted at an alarming rate in vast areas of the sea bed, creating dead zones.
This causes the ‘jubilee phenomenon' wherein dwellers of deep sea like crabs, shrimps and eels teem along the waters edge.
Fishermen of the area said that by Wednesday evening, the phenomenon had subsided.
Source: The Hindu,18-11-2010
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