Protest in Udupi over fishermen missing for 3 weeks

Agencies

January 6, 2019

Udupi, Jan 6: Thousands of fishermen took out a protest march in the Udupi district of Karnataka on Sunday. The protestors demanded the government to trace the seven members of their community who have been missing for 24 days.

The seven fishermen went missing in December from near the Malpe port in Udupi district.

The incident came to light when a Twitter handle @malpesharath1 informed Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Twitter that a fishing boat named Suvarna Tribhuja, with a group of fishermen, had not been found since December 13, raising fear that it could be a handiwork of terrorists wanting to carry out Mumbai 26/11 type of attack.

After the matter was brought to her notice, Sitharaman directed the Coast Guard and Navy to check and respond to the call for help from the families of the fishermen.

"Sorry to know, @indiancoastguard @indiannavy please check and respond," Sitharaman tweeted.

The Indian Coast Guard, on December 25, pressed its ships, aircraft and helicopters into service to locate the vessel and the missing people. An additional interception craft was also pressed into action as a part of the search operation.

As per reports, kin of the fishermen expressed fear that their family members may have been kidnapped by terrorists and urged the government to move fast in locating the boat as it could hamper national security.

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Elusive bamboo shrimp resurfaces in Mangaluru estuary after 70 years

News Network

December 7,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 7: A rare bamboo shrimp has been rediscovered on mainland India more than 70 years after it was last reported, confirming for the first time the presence of Atyopsis spinipes in the country. The find was made by researchers from the Centre for Climate Change Studies at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, during surveys in Karnataka and Odisha.

The team — shrimp expert Dr S Prakash, PhD scholar K Kunjulakshmi, and Mangaluru-based researcher Maclean Antony Santos — combined field surveys, ecological assessments and DNA analysis to identify the elusive species. Their findings, published in Zootaxa, resolve decades of taxonomic confusion stemming from a 1951 report that misidentified the species as Atyopsis moluccensis without strong evidence.

The shrimp has now been confirmed at two locations: the Mulki–Pavanje estuary near Mangaluru and the Kuakhai River in Bhubaneswar. Historical specimens from the Andaman Islands, previously labelled as A. moluccensis, were also found to be misidentified and actually belong to A. spinipes.

The rediscovery began after an aquarium hobbyist in Odisha spotted a shrimp in 2022, prompting systematic surveys across Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru. Four female specimens were collected in Mulki and one in Odisha, all genetically matching.

Researchers warn the species may exist in very small, vulnerable populations as freshwater habitats face increasing pressure from pollution, sand mining and infrastructure development. All verified specimens have been deposited with the Zoological Survey of India for future reference.

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