The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute is all set to release the estimates of marine fish landings in India for the year 2016 on Friday here. The annual marine fish landing estimates, which CMFRI releases every year, provides reference and information for formulating rules and regulations in fisherie s sector and conducting further studies in the field. CMFRI has compiled the data by collecting details of all the species landed at 1,511 marine fish landing centres across the country. The marine fish landing estimates of 2016 assume significance in the wake of continuing trend of dwindling catch of marine fish for the last four years. CMFRI’s earlier reports showed that fish availability in Kerala was decreasing each year after the record-high catch in 2012. The sharp decline in availability of sardine had a drastic impact on the fishery of the State last year. The marine fish landings recorded a 16 per cent fall in 2015 in the State compared to 2014,registering a sharp decline of 55 per cent in availability of sardine. Those closely monitoring the developments in the Indian fisheries sector are looking forward to the release of CMFRI’s report to know if there is a revival in availability of the sardine and an improvement in the landings in the country.