The world’s largest guitarfish was found off the coast of Govyachya; 114 cm tall, see photo A to Z Counsel

Panaji:The World Wide Fund for Nature has been doing this exercise for the last few months to find guitarfish in the Govyat sea. During the exercise of WWF, they found 114 cm long widenose guitarfish in a month. It is the largest guitarfish in the world.

Most species of guitarfish are in the shark family, and the IUCN has listed them as endangered. Half of the guitarfish found in Govat, the largest widenose guitarfish found in the world would have been 93 cm long. We conducted the exercise in April 2021 and have so far recorded 77 individual guitarfish of diverse species in Goa, said Aditya Kakodkar, senior coordinator of marine conservation at WWF’s Goa office.

The maximum number was found in Caranjhalem, followed by Benolim. The largest, 114 cm long, was caught at Caranjhalem by fishermen using rampons or traditional nets. She would have been a female and by the time she was found, she would have already been melli. As guitarfish Persians are digestive species, they do not provide economic value to fishermen and are largely caught unintentionally, Kakodkar said.

The fish are either sent to the fishmeal plant or thrown away. Since its skin is difficult to remove, it can never be eaten. Sometimes, the fisherman eats himself. सर्वत मोथी मदी गैटरफिश अध्यल्यास, अम्ही मच्चिमराना देटो। We still have deed rains to go and we will collect data and work with fishermen, students and the public at large to create awareness about guitarfish culture. Fishermen’s trade does not interfere with us,’ Kakodkar said.

He said that guitarfish have scientific value and importance for the marine ecosystem and therefore their promotion is important because they hunt unhealthy carnivores as well as large carnivores.

Of the seven species, six are listed as critically endangered by the IUCN, while one, the white-spotted guitarfish, is also endangered under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act. Govyat, sharpnose, widenose and stripnose guitarfish have been found so far, all of which are IUCN listed.

Guitarfish are mainly found inland in tropical waters. It was smuggled to eastern countries, where its fins and gills were eaten in soup. That’s why it is smuggled from India itself. But currently we do not have enough data about Guitarfish. With CSR support, WWF India would like to compile the data, which will help us in lobbying the government for its promotion in future.”

So far, 17 coastal stretches in Goa have been scanned for the presence of guitarfish and awareness programs have been organized for fishermen working in Caranjhalem and Benolim. On Sunday, the third awareness program for the members of the Siridao Traditional Fisherman’s Association would have been organized. We interviewed 117 fishermen, except that some eastern fishers would have been in business. We were told that guitarfish would have been found more frequently in Govat than today, Kakodkar said.