NEW DELHI, Sept 1: A fisherman from Maharashtra’s Palghar, near Mumbai, has overnight become richer by over Rs one crore with his bounty of catch of “fish with the heart of gold.”
The fisherman Chandrakant Tare from Murbe village in Palghar district, had set sail in his boat to the sea for the first time on August 28 after the two months monsoon ban on fishing was lifted.
While fishing, he noticed that the net had become heavy and he immediately pulled it out. Crew members aboard the boat were both surprised and elated to see that he had caught around 150 ghol fish in the net at one go. Ghol fish is not only a delicacy but also has many medicinal properties and is highly valued in various countries. Its parts are used to make medicines and other high-priced products for which it is also known as “the fish with the heart of gold.”
Catching such a huge number of ghol fish in any part of the sea is a rarity. When the fisherman returned from sea, the catch was auctioned and it attracted a bid of around ₹ 1.33 crore.
According to Tare’s son Somnath, there is a pouch in the stomach of the ghol fish, which is in great demand overseas. The ghol fish, scientific name Protonibea diacanthus, is a type of black-spotted croaker fish found in the Indo-Pacific region and is considered amongst the most-expensive variety of marine fish.
(Manas Dasgupta)