Fishery and biology of green tiger shrimp Penaeus semisulcatus (De Haan,1844) landed at Puthiappa, Kozhikode, Kerala coast

The fishery and biology of Penaeus semisulcatus based on data collected from 2003 to 2007 from Puthiappa, Kozhikode, Kerala are described. The annual catch varied from 0.7 t to 12.4 t with an average of 5.8 t. The fishing season was from January to June and the landings peaked in May. The total length of male ranged from 76 to 190 mm and females from 96 to 220 mm. The sex-ratio did not deviate significantly from 1:1. Gut analysis showed that shrimps with empty stomach were dominant (60%); and the major food items were detritus (39%), molluscs (31.4%) and crustaceans (28.5%). The minimum size of mature female was 150 mm and the gonado-somatic Index was the highest in February. Fecundity varied from 2,83,650 to 7,51,200 mature eggs. Relationships between total length and weight, length and ovary weight, body weight and ovary weight, fecundity and ovary weight, fecundity and length and fecundity and body weight were determined

Fishery and stock assessment of Fenneropenaeus indicus (H.Milne Edwards) from Kozhikode, south west coast of India

The average annual catch of Fenneropenaeus indicus in the trawl landing of Puthiappa, Kozhikode was 197 t with a CPUE of 15 kg. Peak fishing period was April-May. About 28% of the average annual shrimp catch was constituted by F. indicus. The stock assessment studies indicated that the fishery is still underexploited and the effort can be increased to obtain the maximum sustainable yield

On the fishery and some aspects of biology of Penaeus (Melicertus) canaliculatus (Olivier, 1811) landed at Puthiappa, Kozhikode, southwest coast of India

The annual catch of Penaeus (Melicertus) canaliculatus varied from 353 to 7090 kg with an average of 2009 kg during 2003-2007. The fishing season was from January to June. The total length of males was 91-195 mm and females 86 to 230 mm in the fishery. Females dominated the catch. Crustacean remains were dominant in stomach contents (63.9%) followed by molluscan shells (22.5%). About 78% of females were in spent stage of ovarian development and 5.7% were with ripe ovary. The peak spawning months were February and June. The fecundity varied from 1,55,400 to 2,36,600 eggs with an average of 1,85,733. L∞ and K were 200 mm and 1.9 for males, and 237 mm and 2.0 for females, respectively. Length-weight relationship was Log W = -5.1287+2.99997 Log L for male and Log W = -5.1900+3.0271 Log L for femal

Exploitation of mud crab Scylla serrata (Forskal) from Korapuzha estuary, Kerala

The hook and line fishery for mud crab (Scylla serrata) in the Korapuzha estuary is described. The fishing season extends throughout the year with a peak during Deamber-June. The average annual catch for 1987-89 was 14.0 tonnes with a CPUE of 113 kg. The size ranged from 51-215 mm in females', and 46-195 mm in males with majority between 86-120 mm. The length-width and the width-weight relationship, L and K values, sex ratio, maturity and marketing aspects were studied

Fishery, biology and population dynamics of Parapenaeopsis stylifera at Calicut

Results of the study based on the data collected at Calicut on the fishery and biology of Parapenaeopsis stylifera for a period of five years from 1987 to 1992 are given. The average annual catch and catch per unit effort were 306 tons and 16.6 kg respectively. The peak landings were observed during October -January. Shrimp formed 7.4% of the total trawl landings and 49.8% of the shrimp catch was contributed by P.stylifera. The size range of female was 46-130mm and in male, 51-110mm. Males outnumbered females in the total catch and the difference was statistically significant. Mature females occured throughout the season and the size at first maturity was 74.6 + 1.013 mm. The growth parameters, L00, k and t0 were 132.03 mm, 0.1912 and 0.088 respectively for feamles and 111.8 mm, 0.2065 and 0.398 respectively for males. Total average mortaility rate was 6.41 (females) and 9.83 (males). Yield per recruit and cohort analysis revealed that further increase in effort would affect the stock adversely

Crab fishery of t h e Calicut coast with some aspects of t he population characteristics of Portunus sanguinolentus, P. pelagicus and Charybdis cruciata

Annual crab landings by mechanised trawlers ranged between 9.0 t (1988-'89) and 64.0 t (1987-'88). During 1987-'91 period. Portunus sanguinolentus (94.2 %), P. pelagicus (3.0 %) and Charybdis cruciata (2.8 %) were the dominant species. The carapace length-body weight relationship were : W = 0.01037 L^^"' for P. sanguinolentus, W = 0.00374 L = ^^'^ •' for P. pelagicus and W= 0.00059 L ^^^'•'' for C. cruciata. The carapace width-body weight relationships of the respective species were : W = 0.00013 L ''•^"^^ W = 0.00024 U™" and W = 0.00029 L ^ "'"*''. The carapace length-carapace width relationships were W = 19.636+1.7218 L for P. Sanguinolentus, W = 13.6133 + 1. 9549 L for P. pelagicus and W = 0.9874 + 1. 5473 L for C. Cruciata. The size varied from 26-175 mm carapace with (C W) in P. sanguinolentus, 66-115 mm C W in P. pelagicus and 51-120 mm C W in C cruciata. In P. sanguinolentus a regular pattern of dominance of one sex over the other was absent. Maturity study indicated spawning throughout the year and the size at first maturity in female was 82.99 mm C.W. The L , K (annual) and t^ (annual) values were 172.9 mm C.W., 1.4939 and -0.0482 respectively in male. The respective values in female were 161.8 mm C.W., 1.574 and -0.0635

Saga of marine prawn fishery of Karnataka

Trends in prawn fishery of Karnataka, especially during 1950-2020 are broadly divided into four phases, namely primary phase (1950-1970) in which fishery was confined with traditional gears and also as phase of introduction of exploratory surveys, ii) growth phase in which trawl fishery dominated and ventured into deeper waters for prawn fishing (1971-1990), iii) enhanced growth phase (1991-2000) with intensification on trawl fishery in terms of fishing capacity as well as introduction of innovative methods and iv) the present stagnation phase (2006-2020). Till 1970 the fishery was dominated by indigenous fishing units, but later the trawlers contributed the majority of prawn catch. 28 species of marine prawns were recorded along the Karnataka coast, among which, Metapenaeus dobsoni, Parapenaeopsis stylifera, Penaeus indicus, M. monoceros, Solenocera choprai, M. affinis, P. monodon, P. semisulcatus and P. merguiensis were the major contributors. Deep-sea prawn fishery from the coast started from the year 2000 and the major species landed were Aristeus alcocki and Heterocarpus spp. After a promising start, “red ring” landing showed a diminishing trend in catch as well as in mean size. These reductions influenced the feasibility of the deepsea prawn fishery operations and the fishery came to an end by 2009. Prawns were invariably contributing more than 25% of the total revenue in Karnataka fisheries till 1990, but over the period of time, the contribution of prawn in the fishery revenue of Karnataka reduced substantially. An analysis of the trawl economics carried out based on major trawl fishing harbors of Karnataka showed that in 2000, prawns contributed 23% of the revenue of trawlers, which was reduced to 11% in 2010 and to 6% in 2020

Nutritional composition of the branched murex Chicoreus ramosus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Family: Muricidae)

Chicoreus ramosus (Linnaeus, 1758), the branched murex, a species of marine  gastropod mollusc collected off the Gulf of Mannar on the south-eastern coast of India was studied for the nutritional composition. The edible portion of C. ramosus demonstrated protein content with balanced ratio of essential to non-essential amino acids (~0.94). The C20-C22 n-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, were predominant in the edible part (15.8 and 17.2% total fatty acids, respectively). Considerably lesser cholesterol content (28.7 mg 100 g-1), greater hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic index (6.3) and lesser atherogenic (0.2), thrombogenicity (0.1) indices showed its importance as a cardioprotective and antithrombogenic diet. The presence of antioxidative microelement selenium (30.44 μg 100 g-1) along with ascorbic acid and tocopherol (45.5 and 55.8 μg 100 g-1, respectively) demonstrated the value of this foodstuff to impart antioxidative defense in the metabolic system. A lesser sodium/potassium (Na/K) proportion (0.64) in C. ramosus could be coupled with a diminished threat of developing hypertension and cardiovascular disease. The aggregate amount of calcium and phosphorus (136.1 mg 100 g-1) showed the beneficial effect of this species in facilitating the recruitment of osteoblasts and bone mineralisation process. The previously undescribed report with regard to nutritional composition of C. ramosus appropriately demonstrated this low-value gastropod species as a valuable depot of essential nutritional elements and as a health food for human consumption

Spanner crab Ranina ranina recorded off Puducherry coast

The Spanner crab or Red Frog crab Ranina ranina (Linnaeus, 1758) a true brachyuran crab is the only extant species of its genus in the Family Raninidae. The species characteristically has an elongated, anteriorly broad, reddish brown carapace covered by low rounded scale like spines. Geographically they are distributed in the Indo Pacific region in sandy substrata at depths between 10 and 70 m and are commercially exploited in Hawaii, Japan, Seychelles and parts of Australia mainly using baited traps

Minimum Legal Size proposed for commercially exploited marine finfish and shellfish resources of Tamil Nadu

Marine fisheries in Tamil Nadu have undergone tremendous change in terms of fishing pattern, fishing method, extension of fishing grounds, composition of fish catch and consequent increase in the total fish catch in recent years. The recent demand from industries involved in fish meal and fish oil encourages targeted fishing for by-catch resulting in heavy landing of low value by-catch in certain places along Tamil Nadu coast. These by-catch are often dominated by juveniles of many commercially important marine finfishes and shell fishes. So it warrants some caution and intervention. One of the methods to discourage the indiscriminate exploitation of juveniles is to impose a Minimum Legal Size (MLS) which is the size at which a particular species can be legally retained if caught. The advantage of a MLS is that it aids in the control of two major problems in the fisheries management, growth overfishing and recruitment overfishing either by increasing the minimum size of harvest or by increasing or maintaining the size of the spawning stock. The most common method of increasing the reproductive output through the use of size limits is to set the minimum size at which the females become sexually mature. As the individuals of a species do not attain sexual maturity at the same size, it can be a size at which higher proportions are mature