Unusual landing of blue shark

The fishermen of Thoothoor and Thengapattanam are experts in hook and line operations for sharks and conduct multiday distant water shark fishing off Maharashtra and Gujarat coasts at 150-180 km from shore. Large-sized elasmobranchs caught here are landed in southern India, where the meat is saltdried and sold for domestic consumption. Blue sharks are not regular contributors to the shark fishery in India and are rarely seen in such large numbers as in the present observation

Report on the rare quagga cat shark landed

Quagga catshark, Halaelurus quagga (Alcock, 1899) one of the rarest sharks in the family Scyliorhinidae (Order Carcharhiniformes) was observed at Muttom landing centre, Tamil Nadu on June 5 2017. It was landed as a bycatch in the demersal-trawl operated off Muttom at 150-200 m depths. The male specimen collected measured 298 mm in total length (TL) and its morphometrics were recorde

Unusual fish landings during monsoon season of 2018 along the Trivandrum and Kanyakumari coast

Bumper catch of Odonus niger (Redtoothed triggerfish) at Thengapattanam Fisheries Harbour and Moonfish Mene maculata along Vizhinjam coast was one of the major observations during the monsoon 2018. An estimated 50 t of O. niger was landed at the Thengapattanam Fisheries Harbour. Fishing vessels of 32 feet overall length (OAL) with two outboard engines (9.9hp each) operating boat seines were used for fishing

Biology of some important Demersal Fishery Resources In: ICAR Sponsored Winter School on Recent Advances in Fishery Biology Techniques for Biodiversity Evaluation and Conservation, 1-21 December 2018, Kochi.

Global total capture fishery production in 2014 was 93.4 million tonnes, of which 81.5 million tonnes from marine waters and 11.9 million tonnes from inland waters. Total capture production in marine waters was 81.5 million tonnes in 2014, a slight increase on the previous two years (SOFIA, 2016). The marine fish landings from the coast of the main land of India in 2017 was estimated as 3.83 million tonnes (t) showing an increase of 5.6% compared to in 2016. Landings in all the maritime states except Tamil Nadu increased in 2017. Highest landings was along the Gujarat coast (7.86 lakh t; 20.5%), followed by Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka with 6.55 lakh t (17.1%), 5.85 lakh t (15.3%) and 5.48 lakh t (14.3%). Percentage increase was high in Goa (64%), West Bengal (33%), Maharashtra (30%) and Kerala (12%). Along the Indian coast demersal finfishes form one of the major components in the marine fish landings. Demersal fish groups such as the sharks. groupers. snappers. threadfins, pormfrets and Indian halibut are commercially valuable and contribute substantially to the economy of Indian marine fisheries. Some of these groups, especially of largesize, are targeted by the fishermen by using different craft and gear combinations. However, several other demersal finfishes are not targeted, but are landed as bycatch by shrimp trawlers

Demersal Fishes - Life History Studies and Resource Assessment of fishes In: ICAR Sponsored Winter School on Recent Advances in Fishery Biology Techniques for Biodiversity Evaluation and Conservation, 1-21 December 2018, Kochi.

Demersal fishes are those, which are bottom dwelling fishes and fishes that are close to the sea bottom. Demersal fisheries have been a major source of human nutrition and commerce for thousands of years. Main objective of the demersal fishery is nothing but human consumption. Compared with pelagic resources like mackerel and sardine, the demersal fishes are relatively large and high value species. Since the fishes are mostly associated with sea bottom, these are also known as ground-fish fisheries. Deep-water fisheries are mostly featured by some of their major characteristics like slow growth, longevity, and low reproductive output that may be the reasons for the low sustainability towards the high level of fishing pressure. The intensity of fishing activity throughout the world, including demersal fisheries, has increased rapidly over the past century, with more fishing vessels, greater engine power, better fishing gear, and improved navigational aids. Many demersal fisheries are now overexploited and all are in need of careful assessment and management if they are to provide a sustainable harvest

ICAR-CMFRI Winterschool on Recent Advances in Fishery Biology Techniques for Biodiversity Evaluation and Conservation

The application of scientific knowledge for the development of the fishing industry lies in an intimate knowledge of the biology of fishes. Without proper knowledge of the life, habits and behaviour of fishes, it would not be possible to plan, control and manage the fisheries resources in a satisfactory manner. The importance of knowledge of the natural history and ecology of organisms affecting the particular fishery cannot be overestimated. Such knowledge is largely the basis for fishery regulation. It also helps in determining the need to improve a given environment and in the required direction. Marine fisheries comprise of capture and management offish and other commercially important organisms found in the seas. Effectively combining fisheries management and biodiversity conservation for both human and ecosystem well being is the central challenge of modern fishery governance. At the global level, the aims of fisheries management and of biodiversity conservation are,respectively, framed by the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC) and the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and related implementation instruments(such as the 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement, the 1995 Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, and the 1995 Jakarta Mandate on Marine and Coastal Biological Diversity), each with its own sets of requirements. While this field is predominantly of the capture type, culture of certain marine organisms is also possible.In both cases, basic knowledge on the biology of fishes or other organisms of economic importance is necessary. Most conservation efforts are based on scientific management tools, which in turn rely on sound biological data and derivations from the same for farming the management recommendations. A wide array of techniques are used by fishery biologists to study fishes and these biological inputs used are further used to effectively manage the fisheries

Stomach Content Analysis Techniques in Fishes In: ICAR Sponsored Winter School on Recent Advances in Fishery Biology Techniques for Biodiversity Evaluation and Conservation, 1-21 December 2018, Kochi.

In Ichthyology, fish ecology & fisheries resource management, the information on diet & food habits are valuable in the decision-making process related to natural resources (Kido, 1996). Fish gut content analysis provides an important insight into feeding patterns & quantitative assessment of feeding habits is an important aspect of fisheries management. Fish diet represents an integration of many important ecological components that includes behaviour, condition, habitat use, energy intake & inter & intra-specific interactions, etc. A valid description of fish diets & feeding habits also provides the basis for understanding trophic interactions in aquatic food webs. Conceptually, trophic relations of fishes begin with the food & feeding habits & gut content analysis can be used to evaluate the habitat preferences, prey selection, effects of ontogeny & developing conservation strategies (Chipps & Garvey 2007). A food habit study might be conducted to investigate the most frequently consumed prey or to determine the relative importance of different food types to fish nutrition & to quantify the ingestion rate of individual food types. All such questions demands information on fish diets & requires different approaches in how one collects & analyzes data. In summary, gut content analysis is used in the understanding of many aspects of fish ecology on individual, population & ecosystem levels. It helps us to study & elucidate specific problems of interactions, evolution, speciation, invasions & fishery management nature protection. As a result, stomach content studies could be incorporated into a variety of different research objectives. Consequently, the study of the gut content is not only way to know the diet but also superior source of information on many aspects of fish biology & ecology

Design of low-cost indigenous recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) for broodstock maturation of marine fishes

Maturation of most coastal fishes may well be achieved if the animals are maintained in good quality seawater, provided they are well fed and reared without the stress of overcrowding and disturbances. RAS provides perfect opportunity to manipulate environmental conditions that are critical in maturation processes such as temperature, photoperiod, nutrition and other water quality parameters in addition to facilitating observation of the behaviour of fishes and do various husbandry steps. There is a need for the development of cost-effective, economically viable systems that minimize the environmental impact while at the same time ensuring optimal rearing conditions. Present article describes design and operation of low-cost RAS systems developed by ICAR-CMFRI for broodstock development of marine fishes, which include 30000 to 2000 l FRP systems with mechanical, biological filtration sub systems including disinfection, temperature control and photoperiod manipulation, using equipment such as, proteins skimmer, UV filters, chillers, biological filter cabinets and LED lighting with timer control

Unusual landings of the anthiine fish, Pseudanthias pillai at Neendakara Fisheries Harbour

Fishes of the genus Pseudanthias (Family Serranidae) also known as “fairly basslets” or “anthias” are mostly small sized, reef-dwelling fishes, which are highly sought after marine ornamental fish in the international market due to its beautiful coloration and striking patterns. An unusual landing of the anthiine fish, Pillai’s anthias Pseudanthias pillai was observed at Neendakara Fisheries Harbour, Kollam on 9.5.2018 (Fig.1). About 750 kg (25 boxes of ≅30 kg each) of anthiine fishes, dominated by Pseudanthias pillai (99%) and Pseudanthias spp. were landed in a multiday (3 days fishing trip) trawler operated at 120-130 m depth off Kollam waters, Arabian Sea

Emerging fishery for Japanese ruby fish in Vizhinjam

Unique catch of Japanese ruby fish, Erythrocles schlegelii (Richardson, 1846) locally known as Imbooraan accurred at Vizhinjam Landing Centre for the last few months. A demersal fish (family Emmelichthyidae) they are commonly known as ruby fishes, rovers, bonnet mouths and redbaits. Marine plywood boats fitted with two 9.9 HP engines are operating hooks and line to exploit these fishes. Daily trips with fishermen departing early at 3.00 am from the shore, travelling about 20-25 km to operate at more than 100 m depths and reaching back by 3.00 pm in the afternoon is common