Thiruvananthapuram

A total of 469 fishermen died and 160 others went missing off the Kerala coast over the last 11 years, according to figures released by the state Fisheries Minister's office on Friday, as protests erupted among the coastal community over the recent disappearance of two fishers.

As per the data released by the office of minister V E Abdul Gafoor, 23,000 patrolling operations and 5,072 sea rescue missions have been conducted during the period from 2015-16 to 2025-26 under the Kerala Marine Fisheries Regulation (KMFR) enforcement.

As many as 47,773 fishermen were rescued over the 11 years.

The highest number of fishermen deaths was reported in 2017-18 at 79, followed by 55 in 2025-26 and 54 in 2023-24.

Further, the highest number of fishermen reported missing in a single year was 29 in 2017-18, while 26 fishermen each went missing in 2016-17 and 2021-22, the figures showed.

The latest data for 2025-26 showed that 2,107 patrolling operations and 560 sea rescue missions were carried out, resulting in 6,556 fishermen being rescued.

During the year, 55 fishermen died and three were reported missing, according to the figures released by the minister's office.

The Fisheries minister's office released the figures at a time when protests erupted among the coastal community over the recent missing of two fishermen, including a 26 year-old man in the state.

The Coastal Police on Friday intensified the search for the man who went missing after a fishing boat capsized near Puthenthura here on July 31, officials said.

Officials at the Neendakara Coastal Police Station said additional boats and personnel have been deployed to search for Gautam Krishna of Puthenthura here. Gautam's father, Radhakrishnan (48), and grandfather, Rajeevan (74), who were also on the fishing boat, died in the mishap.

The Vizhinjam Coastal Police are continuing the search for John (54) of Pulluvila, who went missing in a separate boat mishap off the Thiruvananthapuram coast on July 31.

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John's family recently staged a protest outside the Vizhinjam Coastal Police Station, alleging that the search operation was not being carried out effectively.