Hope is finally burning bright for ‘Puntius Denisonii’, an ornamental fish known across the globe as ‘Miss Kerala’, and one which has been facing the hazard of extinction, thanks to unabated commercial exports.
A freshwater fish that was once endemic and largely restricted to the running waters of the Achenkovil and Chaliyar rivers, Miss Kerala, also known as the Red Line Torpedo Barb, was a main export revenue earner for the State in the ornamental fish export sector, with each of these beauties raking in at least Rs.1,500. However, with no evident steps from authorities concerned to curb the exports, the Barb was gradually swimming towards becoming history.
Now, giving a shot in the arm for those hostility to save the ‘Miss Kerala’, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has put her on its Red List, regarded the most inclusive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species since 1963.
‘Miss Kerala’, according to the catalog, is found in only four locations - the Cheenkannipuzha (tributary of the Valapattanam River), Achenkovil, Chaliyar, and near Mundakayam. The Red List also states that the fish is probable to be threatened by habitat degradation.
Interestingly, though the State Department of Fisheries has issued an order restricting catching and exporting ‘Miss Kerala’, the fish is yet to be scheduled as per the National Wildlife Protection Act. Together with ‘Miss Kerala’, 52 other species of freshwater fishes from India have been located under various threat categories in the IUCN Red List.
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