Jellyfish bloom witnessed off Visakhapatnam coast

For the first time, a bloom of jellyfish has been reported off the Visakhapatnam coast. A survey vessel, MFV Matsya Shikari attached to the Vizag base of the Fishery Survey of India (FSI) reported a bloom of jellyfish around 60 nautical miles off Visakhapatnam.

Carrying out a demersal fishery resource survey in the area, the vessel surprised researchers with 500 kg of jellyfish caught in a single haul at a depth of 40m from a single patch area indicating the abundance.

Identified as Crambionella stuhlmanni, the jellyfish if touched causes skin rashes. Power plant outages have been caused world over due to jellyfish blooms destroying the fishing-industry and damaging the beaches of holiday destinations.

A Siva, senior Scientific Assistant at FSI, Vizag who was a part of the voyage said that the Jellyfish bloom indicates coastal eutrophication, ecosystem degradation and overfishing; also resulting in clogging of fishing nets, causing interference to fishery. As the jellyfish breed in large numbers, the recent bloom could be due to oceanic changes like natural calamities or an underwater drift said Mr Siva. He also said that to understand the causes of the jellyfish or its effect on the coastal fishery of India, in-depth study is needed.