Hydrographic features off northeast coast and Andaman - Nicobar Islands in relation to demersal finfish resources

Temperature varied from 17.6 to 28.5°C, salinity values from 32.12 to 35.21 x 10"" and dissolved oxygen from 0.8 to 4.41 ml/1. No identifiable relationship could be established between these three parameters and the total fish abundance, probably because the catch was made up of many species having different requirements. Higher abundance of trawl catches was from January to May when bottom water temperature was relatively low. The highest level of abundance of 2764 kg/hr in February 1989 was recorded when the parameters were 26°C, 33.6 x 10" and 2.71 ml/1; and the lowest level of 43.2 kg/hr in July 1988 was when the parameters were 25.3°C, 34.48 x 10'^ and 1.6 ml/1

Stock assessment of sciaenid resources of India

B e catches of Sew fishes decrensed froin 1'379 to 1980 and later increased in sages frum 1961 to 1984,1985 to 87 and 1988~089 . Gujantand Mahamshtra togehrwntribured 52%of zdal sdaenid calches along she wcsl coast. hi b.%h the states, the landings during tht: f~stfe w years showed an incmsing trend whercss during the remaining period, the catches and permrage eontnbuticn varied. Along the east coast dso i?r,e sciaenid landings showed annual fluctuations

A note on a whale shark Rhineodon typus smith Caught off Calicut

A juvenile male specimen of Rhincodon typus Smith measuring 5600 mm was caught off Calicut during the month of January 1970. The body measurements and a brief description of the specimen are given

Threadfin breams and lizard fish resources in the shelf waters of the Indian EEZ

The regional and seasonal distribution and abundance of threadfin breams and lizard fish are presented as revealed by the bottom trawling operations of FORV Sagar Sampada during cruises 56-91 (1989 and 1992). The threadfin breams occurred in 49 and lizard fish in 25% of the total number of bottom trawhng stations surveyed. The most productive grounds for threadfin breams were located in the southwest coast between 8° and 15° N latitudinal zones, with the area 11775° yielding the highest average catch rate of 1794 kg/hr. Very high congregation and concentration of threadfin breams, composed mainly of Nemipterus mesoprion and N. japonicus, was observed in the southwest in 41- 80 m depth zones during southwest monsoon period. Lizard fish resources, composed mainly of Saurida tumbil and S. undosquamis were also relatively more dominant in the southwest coast than along the east coast and in the EEZ of Andaman-Nicobar islands. The size distribution of N. japonicus and A', mesoprion showed that smaller modal groups were dominant in shallower depth zones. The potential yield of threadfin breams in the southwest zone was estimated to be 2.05 x 10

Demersal finfish resources of Gujarat

The marine fishery of Gujarat is by and large sustained by the operation of three major gears, viz., trawls, gill nets and do1 nets. Demersal finfish resources have played a major role in shaping the fishery of the state ever since the inception of commercial fishery, especially by trawlers about four and a half decades ago

Present status of exploitation of fish and shellfish resources : Croakers

The monthly as well as seasonal fluctuations in the landings of sdaenids obtained by trawlers and gjll nets operated from Veraval, Bombay, Cochin and Calicut landing centres during the period 1984-88 are studied.' From Veraval, Bombay and Calicut centres, the catches during the postmonsoon period are better than the premonsoon and monsoon periods, while from Cochin, sdaenid landings during the premonsoon period are more than the monsoon and postmonsoon periods

Present status of exploitation of fish and shellfish resources: Lizardfishes

The lizardfish fishery of the different maritime States along the west coast during monsoon is compared with the premonsoon and postmonsoon seasons. In Kerala the catch rate of lizardfishes was the highest during monsoon, while In Kamataka and Goa the peak catch rates were during premonsoon, followed by postmonsoon. In Maharashtra the most productive period was postmonsoon with the catch rates being the lowest during premonsoon and moderate during monsoon. In Gujarat the catch rates were almost equal during pre and postmonsoon seasons, there being no landings during monsoon

Fishery potential of bullseyes along the west coast of India

Fishery of bullseyes (Family:Priacanthidae), an emerging non-conventional demersal finfish resource, and the stock assessment of the dominant species Priacanthus Camrur(Forsskal) along the west coast of India are presented. The resource constituted on an average 16,8701 during 2000-2004, and the production showed wide interannual fluctuations. Caught mainly by trawl, the group is represented mainly by Pkamrur followed by Prruentatus and Ptayenus. The growth parameters of Pharnrur along the west coast are L_= 410 mm and K = 0.59lyr. This fish was found to attain 182.7 mm, 284 mm, 340.2 mm and 371.3 mm during the I-IV th years of its life span. The total mortality coefficient (2) off northwest and southwest coasts during the period ranged between 4.46 to 6.14 and 3.99 to 5.45 respectively. The natural mortality (M) was 1.14 for the west coast while the fishing mortality (F) ranged between 5 and 3.32 off northwest coast and between 4.31 and 1.13 off southwest coast. The annual average yield from northwest region was 6,293 t while the estimated annual stock, average standing stock and MSY were 8,173 t, 2,069 t, and 6.356 t. respectively. Off southwest coast, it was 10,578 t, 14,692 t, 3,401 t and 10,620 t respectively. The exploitation ratio (E) indicated that the resource is optimally exploited

Bumper landings of Arius dussumieri at Nawabundar.

Marine catfish production showed a continuously declining trend all along the Indian coast, heavy landings of A. dussumieri has been recorded at Nawabundar landing centre. Black tip sea catfish locally known as "Khaga" forms an important seasonal fishery in the Dol nets operated at Nawabundar, contributing 5 to 16% of total fish catch with the annual Estimated catch (tonnes) & Effort of A. dussumieri landed at Nawabundar

Demersal finfish resources in certain areas of the EEZ of southwest and southeast coast of India

Bottom trawling data from the cruises of the FORV Sagar Sampada undertaken during 1989-91 in the middle and outer shelf waters of the southern EEZ, at 97 stations within a depth zone of 30 to 130 m, showed catch rates of 3 to 14000 kg/hr. The highest rate of 14 t/hr was recorded at lat. 1 l°N/75° 23.4' E, followed by 5.5t/hr at 8°54'N N/76° 19.6' E off the southwest coast, whereas the abundance was comparatively less off the southeast coast. The average catch rate per hour off the southwest was 724 kg and off the southeast it was 405 kg. The important demersal finfishes available were: threadfin breams (72%), major perches (5%), rays, carangids and goatfish (4% each) off the southwest; and carangids (29%), major perches (23%), rays (19%), threadfin breams (10%) and goatfish (5%) off the southeast. The depth belt of 41-80 m off both the coasts was found to be more productive than deeper regions. The results indicate that the potential yield from the depth zone of 50-100 m off the southwest coast is 2.6 x 10 tonne, which is much higher than the previous estimates of up to 1.5 x 10 tonne. The single largest group (80%) in this zone is threadfin breams, followed by bull's eye, lizard fishes and flatheads