On the occurrence of red-baits in the indigenous boat seine fishery off Madras*

The red-baits Dipterygonotus leucogrammicus Bleeker of the family Emmelichthyidae is one of the important live baits used in the pole and line tuna fishery in Lakshadweep during January to April. No reports are available on the abundant occurrence of these fishes either in the mechanised trawler or indigenous fishing units. The present report deals with an unusual landing of the red baits in the indigenous boat seine fishery at Kottivakkamkuppam landing centre near Madras. Length measurements of a sample taken indicated the length range of 55-86 mm in the landings with the predominance of 71-75 mm size group. Since no ready market was available for red-baits in fresh condition, the entire catch was put to sundrying on the beach

Commercial trawl fishery off Madras coast during 1980-'89 with acomparative account of the catch trend of shrimp and fish trawlers during 1989-91

Introduction of commercial trawling and expansion of the fishing fleet to exploit the ground fishes and prawns along the coast have resulted in considerable development of mechanised fisheries sector. The trawlers operated from Madras base comprise of four different overall length groups, 9.5-10 m, 11 m, 12 m and 13 - 14 m (the conventional 32', 36', 40' and 45') with the horsepower varying between 90 and 120. Landings increased with effort over the years, from 1,416 t in 1980 a steep rise in production to 16,342 t has occurred in 1987 and there has been a further increase to 23,953 t in 1989. The average annual fish production during 1985-'89 was 14,162 t which is almost thrice that in the period 1980-'84 (4,796t). The CPUE has doubled to 369 kg in 1987compared to earlier years and has risen steadily with a maximum of 565 kg in 1989. The highest quantity of prawns (64%) is caught in short trip shrimp trawlers from depths of 15-30 m. The commercially important fishes like threadfin breams, ribbon fishes, goatfishes, barracudas, silverbellies and whitebaits are caught in maximum quantities in short trip shrimp trawls. Seasonal abundance of the resources show that the best catches were got in the third quarter followed by fourth quarter during the period 1980-'89

A code list of common marine living resources of the Indian Seas (Revised Edition)

The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Cochin is the pioneer national establishment primarily engaged in marine fisheries research in the country. As a programme of dissemination of information the Institute published a code list of common marine living resources of the Indian seas in 1983. However, considerable changes have since occurred in the nomenclature of many of the genera, families and species of fishes. Hence it is felt that there is an urgent need to revise the code list incorporating these changes. The present publication is a result of this exercise

Trends in the yield of exploited sciaenid fishery resources along the Indian coasts

In the present account a descriptive analysis is made on the recent trends in the yield of exploited sciaenid fishery resources along the coasts of India during the period, 1966-'84. The all-India state wise catch trends in the order of abundance during the period, 1966-'82 are summarized

Some Notes On Queenfishes And Their Fishery Along The Indian Coasts

A large variety of fishes popularly called horse mackerels, shads, trevellies, queenfishes, pompanos, runners etc. comprise the family Carangidae. Among them, the subfamily Scomberoidae represented by the genus Scomberoides (- Chorinemus) is popularly knownas queenfishes.They form an important constituent in the marine fish landings of India. This article highlights some of the taxonomic characters for easy field identification and also to review in brief the status of fishery of this group of fishe

Present status of marine fisheries of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry

The exploited fisheries of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry during the recent five year period 1985-'89 have been studie

Barracudas

The barracudas, otherwise known as sea-pikes of the family sphyraenidae, are caught in sizeable quantities Along the indian coast. They are reported to occur in all tropical waters. Of the four distinct species Reported from the indo-pacific region viz., sphyraena barracuda (walbaum), s. Jello cuvier, s. Forsteri Cuvier and s. Obtusata cuvier (fig. 1), the former two species attain more than 1.5 m in length whereas others grow to a maximum of 40-60 cm, the common size range being 20-30 cm (fischer and whitehead, 1974

On the landing of a whale shark, Rhincodon typus Smith at Tuticorin

Details of measurements of a male whale shark, Rhincodon typus Smith measuring 7.45 m in total length landed at Tuticorin on 16-6-1970 are given here

Fecundity and spawning habits of some silver-bellies

The results of fecundity and ova diameter frequency studies on four species of silver-bellies, viz., Secutor insidiator, S. ruconius, Leiognathus dussumieri and Gazza minuta are presented. The former three species seem to have a prolonged spawning seaon, while the last one has a restricted spawning period

On the landing of a giant rock-cod, (Bloch) at Cuddalore

A giant rock-cod, Promicrops lanceolatus (Bloch) measuring 210 cm in total length was landed at Cuddalore Fisheries Harbour on 3 - 9 - 1989 by a drift gill netter operated off Cuddalore at a depth of about 35 - 40 m