Biological aspects of kilka (age, growth, feeding and reproduction) in southern of Caspian Sea

In the changing environmental of the Caspian Sea specifically pelagic zone following the introduction of the comb jelly Mnemiopsis leidyi has been continued ,particularly kilka catch ,biological characteristic and feeding . In this investigation which had been done in commercial catch regions (where discharged theirs catch) in three ports Babolsar ,Amirabad (in Mazandaran) and Anzali (in Guilan), estimated catch and catch per unit effort, the age structure of catch ,length- weight relationship, von Bertalanffy growth parameters, condition factor, sex ratios ,maturity stags ,age at first capture and spawning and feeding .The result shown that catch of kilka in Iranian coastal in 2006 decreased from 22300 ton to 16700 ton in 2008.But CPUE increased from1.7 ton (Vessel ×Night) to 2.5 ton at that time due to dropped effort .The length frequency of kilka is close and the juvenile fish did not see in catch as increased the length mean (P>0.000).The age frequency had the same situation as fish low than 2 years did not see for anchovy and bigeye ,so collapse juvenile stock cause poor recruitment in the species .The parameters of the von Bertalanffy growth curve were For common kilka L_∞= 136.5mm k= 0.249y t0= 1.890y Q= 3.883; For bigeye kilka L_∞= 131.7mm k= 0.346 t0= 1.123y Q= 3.688; And for anchovy kilka L_∞= 148mm k= 0.375 t0= 1.243y Q= 3.814 The exploitation rate of anchovy, bigeye and common kilka were 0.51, 0.58 and 0.6 respectively. The highest of GSI recorded in May and March for common and bigeye and in Jul, Nov for anchovy kilka .Main prey was Acartia tonsa by anchovy and common kilka and Cypris balanus by bigeye kilka. We concluded that the ecological problem causes by Mnemiopsis leidyi as well as overfishing has been collapsed kilka stocks, particularly anchvy.so sustainable fisheries management and conservation biodiversity in the Caspian Sea are real challenges now

The study of feeding, reproduction and biological parameters of kilka fishes in the Iranian waters of the Caspian Sea

The overfishing and changing environmental following the introduction of the comb jelly Mnemiopsis leidyi in the Caspian Sea, the population structure has a strong influence on kilka fishes in the Caspian Sea and therefore to in this investigation which had been done in commercial catch regions (where discharged theirs catch) in three ports Babolsar, Amirabad (in mazandaran) and Anzali (in Guilan), stimated catch and catch per unit effort, the age structur of catch, length- weight relationship, von Bertalanffy growth parameters, condition factor, sex ratios, maturity stags, spawning and feeding. The result shown that catch of kilka in Iranian coastal in 2012 decreased from 24080 ton to 22696 ton in 2013. But CPUE increased was 2.7 ton (Vessel ×Night) and there was no significant changes. Common kilka was the predominant all months of the year, 98.1 and 98.9 percent in 2012 and 2013 respectively. The mean length was 104.4±10.5 and 101.6±11.2 at the same time and range length 92/ 5 – 117/5 mm were the dominant population(about 75%). Relative abundance of fish less than 77.5 mm and more than 127.5 mm is very low. Age abundance during this period have not been substantially changed and always fishes with 3 and 4 year olds had the highest frequency73.6 and 73.5 percent respectively. The parameters of the Von Bertalanffy growth curve were (8.141) 048.1 for common kilka. The instantaneous coefficient of natural mortality (M) was 0.506 yr-1. The instantaneous coefficient of fihing mortality and total mortality were 0.694 yr-1 and 1.2 yr^-1 , respectively. The exploitation rate of common kilka varied during 2012-2013 between 0.41-0.50. The mean condition factor 1.41±0.14 (n=5801) and 1.38±0.16 (n=6754) at the same time respectively. According to statistical analysis Anova oneway were a significant difference between condition factor at the same time . Main prey common kilka was Acartia tonsa accounting for over 80%. It seems Common kilka due to a decrease in the frequency of other zooplankton species depend more than ever on Acartia tonsa and this species is probably a concentration of prey for Common kilka