India's fisheries research agency has warned against the indiscriminate and large-scale fishing of sardines

Indian sardines appear to be recovering off the coast of Kerala after a downward trend over the past few years, with fishermen warned that heavy fishing of sardines could damage their populations.
Due to the favourable conditions of marine ecosystems, scattered immature sardines have been found along the southern coast of Kerala, and the Central Institute of Marine Fisheries (CMFRI) has warned against widespread fishing, as this could seriously affect the expected recovery of fish, and when assessing the maturation period, a CMFRI team found that 14-16 cm-sized sardines had not yet reached the reproductive stage.
researchers have expressed concern about the indiscriminate fishing of small sardines, noting that they will take another three months to fully mature.
cmFRI study also showed that sardines in Kerala waters have very little biomass in their spawning groups.
the past five years, the number of sardines in the state's coastal areas has fallen sharply, rising slightly in 2017 but continuing to decline significantly in subsequent years.
catch of sardines last year was 44,320 tonnes, the lowest level in 20 years.
CMFRI had previously found that adverse conditions in marine ecosystems after El Ni?o were the cause of fluctuations in fish species, and that self-regulation of sardine fishing would greatly contribute to their recovery.