'Golden' catch makes Palghar fisherman a crorepati

When Chandrakant Tare, a fisherman from Murbhe in Palgar, set sail with his crew in mid-August, little did he know that he would net the a truly rare catch.

Come September, he is now a crorepati!

On 15 August, coinciding with the Independence Day festivities, trawler Harba Devi, with Tare and 10 crew members on board, cast off into the Arabian Sea.

About 20 to 25 nautical miles in Wadhwan along the Maharashtra-Gujarat coast, Tare and his team caught 157 Ghol fish, known as 'Sea Gold'.

Even while they were on the high seas, the news spread like wildfire in the fishing community.

On 28 August, they returned back to Murbhe and traders had lined up.

The catch was auctioned and it attracted a bid of around Rs 1.33 crore.

The Ghol fish or Protonibea diacanthus, commonly known as the blackspotted croaker, and in Australia as the black jewfish, is a species of fish native to the Indo-Pacific region.

This fish is considered amongst the most-expensive variety of marine fish. Its heart is known as the 'Sea Gold', which is said to have medicinal properties and is an important ingredient in making a variety of medicines.

The fish is considered a delicacy, it is prized in East-Asia for the medicinal properties of its internal organs.

Its fins also have medicinal value and are used by pharmaceutical companies to make dissolvable stitches.