Oil sardine Sardinella longkeps, though forms one of the major pelagic fishery resources in India, has never formed a sizeable fishery along the Madras coast earlier and the present report deals with the emerging fishery along this coast since May to September, 198

Gnanamuttu, J C

Thangaraj Subramanian, V

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ICAR MARINE FISHERIES INFORMATION SERVICE No. 96 ON THE EMERGENCE OF OIL SARDINE FISHERY ALONG MADRAS COAST* Oil sardine Sardinella longkeps, though forms one of the major pelagic fishery resources in India, has never formed a sizeable fishery along the Madras coast earlier and the present report deals with the emerging fishery along this coast since May to September, 1987. * Prepared by J.C. Gnanamuttu and V. Thangaraj Subramaniam, Madras Research Centre of CMFRI, Madras. Fishing operations and fishery Boat seine locally called Eda valai-a. traditional gear used by fishermen to catch pelagic shoals along this coast accounted for the bulk of the catches of oil sardine during May to September, '87. 'Eda valai' is a kind of bag net which is shallow with an extremely wide mouth nearly square measuring 18 m along each side. Two large and two small catamarans are used for operating the net. One of the smaller catamarans is sent as a pilot which looks for fish shoal. If found, the larger catamarans are towed to the fishing area by mecha-nised boats which are also used as carrier boats to bring the catch quickly to the shore for auctioning. The catches were made at 6 to 10 m depth range off" Tiruvan-miyur about 15 km south of Kasimedu fish landing centre at Madras. and V. Among mature fish, males predominated in the catches. The present observation on the mature oil sardine coincides with the observations already made during 1978 (GneLnamuttu, Indian J. Fish., 31 (3), 1984). Stomach contents examined during May-September, '87, and January and March, '88 revealed the presence of copepods in small numbers and digested greenish matter in smaller quantities. Moie than 90% of the stomachs examined were empty. Unusually heavy landings of oil sardine were noted during the second fortnight of May and the first fortnight of June along with mackerel, lesser sardine, mullets and shads (Fig. 1). The estimated number of units (Eda valai) operated, catch of oil sardine and catch per unit and percentage composition based on the observations made by the senior author are given below. Lorries loaded with ice from Kerala sent by whole-sale fish merchants especially from Calicut were used for transporting the fish for marketing in Kerala when the catch was heavy in May and June (Fig. 1). A basket of 50 kg was sold at the landing place for Rs. 100 to 150 depending upon the catch. At the other end a basket was sold for Rs. 200 or 250. Biological observations Fishes of 90 to 200 mm total length were represen-ted in the landings. However, in the regular fishery, fish of 120-145 mm length range were brought by the boat seines. The bulk of oil sardine catches (90%) was formed by fish between 120 and 135 mm. The dominant size groups encountered in different months were 120-124 mm in May and August, 130-134 mm in June and July, 110-114 mm in September and 155-159 mm in January and March. Fish examined during May-September period were all immature and measured below 150 mm. In January and March, adult fish measuring above 150 mm were all mature in stages IV Month May June July August September Units 130 395 347 144 150 Est. catch (kg) 69,600 76,100 22,723 1,545 2,064 CPUE (kg) 535.3 200.0 65.5 10.7 13.8 % of oil sardine in Eda valai catch 50 40.2 31.4 11.0 4.2 Fig. 1. Oil sardines being packed in baskets prior to transporta-tion by trucks. A close consideration of the fishery data available from areas south of Madras especially between Pondi-cherry and Parangipettai indicates that the occurrence of oil sardine along the coast is a regular phenomenon than incidental, although in Madras the fishery appeared for the first time in 1987. Investigations on the resource of oil sardine have been initiated on this coast only in 1987. Regular monitoring and intensive studies have to be carried out for finding out factors responsible for the emergence of oil sardine fishery along this coast. 

On the emergence of Oil sardine fishery along Madras coast

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On the emergence of Oil sardine fishery along Madras coast

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