Three fishermen who went missing were rescued from the sea with the help of Indian Coast Guard. These fishermen owe it to the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) and M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF).

The role of INCOIS-MSSRF fisheries helpline service can be understood by the description of the incident which happened on 26.8.2012 in Mandapam region of Ramanathapuram District. Like any other day, fishermen namely Mr Kannan, Mr Muniyappan and Mr Selvam went for fishing from Mandapam village. While all the other fishermen who ventured into the sea for fishing on that particular day from the same village returned to
the shore the three fishermen did not return. The families of three fishermen and friends became anxious when they did not reach the shore even after two days. On the third day, the relatives of missing fishermen contacted Assistant Director of Fisheries and Coast Guard station at Mandapam. As there was no response from the contacted officials the relatives of those missing people contacted INCOIS-MSSRF fisheries helpline (9282442311) around 8 in the morning to do needful. There was a fear that they might
have been taken into custody by Sri Lankan navy.

M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation