An unusual occurrence of Oil Sardine in Pondicherry on east coast of India

The Indian oil sardine, Sardinella longiceps Valenciennes which forms 10 to 18% of the total fish landings in India, usually occurs in shoals along the west coast of India. Only stray catches of oil sardine have been reported from the east coast. But there has been noleport of its occurrence along the Pondicherry coast. During October-December, 1983 unusual landing of oil sardine in good quantities were noticed in Pondicherry state. During this period an sonivellam alias thenlivellam (drift flowing towards north) was strong instead of the usual southward drift (vannivellam). This was an unusual feature at this coast during monsoon months especially in November. This feature might have been a cause for the abundance of oil sardine in large quantities along the Pondicherry coast.