Contestants 'hook on' to Pilikula with anglers

An angling competition was held as a part of the ‘Mathsyamela -2016’ at Pilikula lake in Mangaluru on Sunday.

The contest was organised by the Karnataka Veterinary, Animals and Fisheries Sciences University, Bidar, in association with the Department of Fisheries, Government of Karnataka, and the Karnataka Fisheries Development Corporation.

Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim inaugurated the event by carrying out angling at the Pilikula lake. ‘Mathsya Darshini’, a mobile canteen of fish delicacies was also inaugurated on the occasion. The canteen will be open at Pilikula every Sunday and will move around the City on the rest of the days.

Identity cards were distributed among the first 9 members of Pilikula Anglers Club: G Prakash Rao, Bhaskar Alva, Capt Suresh Prabhu, Arun Mendes, Kamraj Rai B, Suraj Kumar Shetty, Akshay K C, Allan Antony Lobo, and John Monteiro.

Professional angler Derek D’Souza said that angling is nothing but fishing with anglers and hooks. “The speciality of angling is that it is not for commercial purpose – instead, identification of the fish is most important. Most of the times, the fish caught is let back into the water bodies. The anglers do not support destructive methods of fishing, such as use of dynamites (gelatin sticks) and copper sulphate. Awareness is also created against the African catfish which has become invasive in all water bodies,” explained D’Souza.

“Angling is an international sport. It is a 180-billion dollar industry in the US. Freshwater angling is getting popular these days in India. Angling competitions are held nationwide, to encourage angling. The Government of Uttarakhand has been greatly encouraging angling and licences are issued to angers. Also action is initiated against those who follow illegal means to catch fish,” he added.

He expressed concern about the fish species which are going extinct. “Mahseer fish, which was once found in abundance, is difficult to find these days. Also, Mahseer and snake-head fish are the difficult fishes for angling,” he said.

Derek said that he trains around 80 children a year in angling. He further said that as part of World Fish Migration Day, angling events will be held in various parts of the country, including Mysuru, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Assam, Nagaland and Rajasthan, from May 15. The event will go on for about a month.

Mangaluru City Corporation Commissioner Dr H N Gopalakrishna, Dr Shivarama Karantha Nisargadhama Chief Executive Officer Dr S A Prabhakar Sharma, Fisheries College Dean Dr K M Shankar, Karnataka Fish Development Corporation, Mangaluru, Chairman Hiriyanna, Pilikula Nisargadhama Society Governing Council member and Kannada University, Hampi, former Vice Chancellor Prof B A Vivek Rai and others were present during the inauguration.

Several groups of amateur anglers and members of Mangalore Anglers’ Association took part in the competition. One of the participants, Rafique from Ullal, said that not many fish could be caught as the fish have their own feeding time and come only at the particular time. He used an ordinary angler and hook with a hen’s intestine as prey. He said that he has been following the hobby of angling for the last 10 years and he often carries out fishing in Someshwara and Kotepura.

Reginald Ammanna from Valencia and a member of the Mangalore Anglers’ Club said that he has been following the Western Style of Angling for the last 13 years. Angling improves one’s concentration. Fishing helps him connect with nature, he said and added that he had taken part in a number of angling competitions.