KARWAR: Fisheries Minister Venkatarao Nadagouda has said that the state government will seek help from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Google to trace the eight fishermen who went missing from Malpe fishing harbour last month.

Nadagouda said the department will approach both the organisations to trace the missing boat with the help of their satellites and technology. Eight fishermen, including five from Uttara Kannada district, went for deep sea fishing on December 13 last year from Malpe fishing harbour and they were in contact with the coast till December 15. After that, communication was lost with them.

“I have written to Goa and Maharashtra governments to search for the missing crew ... but there is no clue as of now. Search efforts of ICG and Navy are still on and we hope for a positive outcome,” he said.
“There have been rumours of the boat being hijacked and moving towards Pakistan ... but there is no chance of this as the boat did not have enough fuel to reach the Pakistani coast. Efforts to trace them will continue,” he said. The minister said the government will give `1 lakh each to their families.

RV Deshpande writes to Rajnath over fishermen

BENGALURU: Minister for Revenue RV Deshpande on Wednesday sought the Centre’ intervention in expediting the search for the fishermen. In a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Deshpande sought deployment of aircraft to increase the pace of search operations for the missing fishermen. The minister also wrote a letter of thanks to Minister of External Affairs of India Sushma Swaraj for securing the release of 18 Karnataka fishermen from Kish Island in Iran.