SHIV'S THIRD EYE...

Hi fellas, Shiv Kumar from Bombay had written to goajourno about an article in The Navhind Times, which he felt didn't do justice to the subject it addressed. We invited him to conduct a post-mortem on the same article. It was published a couple of days ago. Here it is, interspersed with comments by Shiv... A note here again guys, if you have any comments please lend your name to it and send a genuine email ID along (for confirmation), since Shiv has stuck out his neck to make these observations. Anonymous comments will be entertained on this post, only if they make sense and contain no slander against the writer...

Undersea ecology changing along Goa's coast
by RAMNATH PAI RAIKAR
Principal Correspondent
PANAJI: Fish production in the state has dropped by 10 per cent after recording successive growth for the past seven years, fuelling the suspicion that sea ecology along the Goan coast might have changed, after a tsunami hitting the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004.
Just who said fish production has fallen after recording successive growth for seven years? the ramponkars have been crying for years that fish production is declining. now their leader Matanhy is crying for entirely different reasons... did the reporter ever ask nio, why fish production fell ten per cent if it really did.
Actually, fish production should have been treated as a separate story altogether. just how much of fish is farmed off the goan coast? For all you know, trawlers may be moving into the deep seas off Karnataka and bringing in the catch. for instance, pomfrets available in Mumbai.
Come from the Gujarat coast. And the joke is the link to the tsunami which happened four years ago! For three years after the tsunami, fish production had been rising!
The former chairperson of the Mandovi Fishermen Marketing Co-op Society Ltd, Mr Victor Gonsalves told ‘The Navhind Times’ that the ecological conditions along the Goan coast changed after the tsunami, with an increase in the intensity of the water currents along the coastline.
Since when did small-time politicians become experts on climate change? Why was this quote not verified with NIO
No more stable netting can be achieved in the sea along the state for the nets are being pulled by strong currents,†Mr Gonsalves informed, observing that the sea bed might have been disturbed and raised a bit. “The waters too are murkier, which affects fish
production as well as fish haul,†he pointed out.
This quote actually points to something serious that could be happening. But a nice opportunity to build on the story has been wasted.
The National Institute of Oceanography sources informed that investigations undertaken by the NIO on board ORV Sagar Kanya in 2005, about hydrophysical manifestations of the tsunami on the Indian coastal environments revealed changes in sea surface temperature and
variation in salinity as well as mixed layer depth. This may have caused changes in ecology, water currents and fishing habits, it was informed.
It seems this is how scientists whisper sweet nothings to their wives as well! One needs to actually sit besides a scientist and ask him or her to explain things. usually, the real story comes at the end of an hour-long session when one needs to extend the meeting
As if endorsing these observations, the department of fisheries is now contemplating handing over the investigative study, into 10 per cent drop in the fish production as witnessed by the state during the year 2007, to the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi, in
Kerala.
Std calls are cheap these days, always helps to call some scientist in kochi and discuss things over the phone followed by a detailed interaction by email. One needs to work on good stories for two-three days instead of rehashing some gibberish which doesn't make sense. It also says a lot about editors who are willing put any cheap local story in print only because a pair of jumbos from next door have moved into the drawing room to munch up the chow. Such stories also need to be supported with strong visuals. I can imaging what the situation is in Goa: till recently even photographers were not provided with cameras.....