Fishermen net Rs7.5m worth of snapper fish

Fishermen hit a jackpot in the open sea when they hauled in a school of snappers in their net.

To the utter joy of the seamen, the net seemed heavier than usual and all hands had to pull in the catch that later tipped the scales at over 12,800 kilogrammes of mangrove snapper, locally known as heera fish.

"The snapper catch of 12,800 kilogrammes was auctioned for more than Rs7.5 million, which is almost Rs600 per kilogramme," said Muazzam Khan, Technical Adviser WWF (Pakistan).

Coastal Media Center spokesperson Kamal Shah said that a group of fishermen from the coastal village of Ibrahim Hyderi were fishing in deep waters when all of a sudden a huge school of red snappers got stuck in their net.

Kamal said the red snapper caught by the fishermen sells for Rs600 to Rs700 per kilogrammes, while the price goes up to Rs1,300 per kg in winter when demand increases.

According to Moazzam Khan, red snapper is a delicious fish mostly found in coastal waters of less than 100-meter depth and feeds on shrimps. He said that this fish is called mangrove snapper in English, while in Urdu and Sindhi language it is called Heera-Machli, while in Balochi language, this fish is popularly known as Kin La.