From December 1992 to February 1993

bumper catch of brown pomfret Stromateus niger

was recorded at Harbour Point landing centre

which is a traditional site for shore seine operations

at Tuticorin. Some enterprising shore seine

fishermen after seeing schools of brown pomfret

moving near the Tuticorin harbour anchorage

used their encircling net to catch the

Arumugam, G

Sam Bennet, P

CMFRI Digital Repository

ISSN 0254-380 X VICE No. 123 • . • # . * 4 v«\* ^ >" Ml • I K OCTOBER 1993 w tTSfS^t f t l * * * T O T TECHNICAL AND ffcrertu: 3f«»rac^t EXTENSION SERIES % ^ ) < T H q j t TltfcWcbl CENTRAL MARINE FISHERIES wjirara w r a w RESEARCH INSTITUTE g&fxOT, ¥IRcT COCHIN, INDIA INDIAN COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH HEAVY LANDING OF BROWN POMFRET AT TUTICORIN* Fishes of the family Stromateidae were never caught in abundance by traditional fishermen at Tuticotin. Catches in small numbers were re-corded in gill nets and shore seines in the past and as such were grouped under "miscellaneous" fishes. From December 1992 to February 1993 bumper catch of brown pomfret Stromateus niger was recorded at Harbour Point landing centre which is a traditional site for shore seine opera-tions at Tuticorin. Some enterprising shore seine fishermen after seeing schools of brown pomfret moving near the Tuticorin harbour anchorage used their encircling net to catch them. During the three months from December 1992 to February 1993, a total of 178.275 tonnes of brown pomfrets were caught by 559 fishing units. Fishing for pomfrets lasted over a period of 41 days. Average catch per unit for the entire period came to 318.91 kg of pomfrets. Heavy landings of brown pomfrets were recorded on three days in January 1993, fetching good price for the fishermen. Details of estimated catch are given in Table 1 and 2. Towards the middle of February pomfret catch abruptly dwindled and the fishery came to an end. Roughly 86% of the pomfret catch was made during January. Three closely related species of pomfrets are recognized from Tuticorin. They are the Brown pomfret Stromateus niger Bloch, Silver pomfret TABLE 1. Estimated fsihing effort and catch Months Fishing Catch Catch per Number effort (tonne) unit (kg) of fishing (units) days TABLE 2. Details of bumper catch Dec. 1992 Jan. 1993 Feb. 1993 142 326 91 14.225 153.800 10.250 100.2 471.8 112.6 10 24 7 Date 4.1.1993 22.1.1993 23.1.1993 Fishing unit(u) 15 15 15 Catch in tonne 9.750 16.500 13.650 Total price obtained in Rs. 2,43,750 3,79,500 3,13,950 Pampus argenteus (Euphrasen) and Chinese pomfret Pampus chinensis (Euphrasen). Very rich grounds for the pomfrets have been observed in the north east, northwest and southwest coasts of India. Heavy catch of brown pomfret has been reported from Dakshina Kannada coast earlier. Fishing gear and methods At Tuticorin, brown pomfrets are caught with encircling gill nets as the fish swim in schools in the near-surface waters. The net is operated from two plank-built boats of the shore seine type. The nets used to catch brown pomfrets are commonly called lobster gill nets [Sinki vahxii with mesh size 5.5 cm. Each net is 27.5 m long and 22 m high with ten 0.5 kg sinkers at foot rope and floats at the head rope. About twelve such net pieces are lashed together and carried by two Total 559 178.275 318.9 41 Fig. 1. A part of the pomfret catch landed. •Reported by P. Sam Bennet and G. Arumugam, Tuticorin Research Centre of CMFRI, Tuticorin - 628 001. 20 Fig. 2. The landed pomfrets are being weighed before loading into the truck. boats with four or five persons in each boat. When a school is sighted for capture, the two boats separate and the net is laid out as each boat complets a half circle to enclose the school. The bottom of the net touches the ground thus confining the fish inside the net. The net is slowly hauled in narrowing the ring around the fish school. Another smaller net with mesh size of 12 cm to 14 cm is used to haul the fish inside the boat. The vessels usually make one daily trip to the fishing grounds, leaving the shore early morning and landing the catches in the evening. Number of boats engaged in pomfret fishery is regulated depending on the catches of the previ-ous day. Fishing is conducted during daylight hours and when the water is clear and wind favourable. The fishery At Tuticorin, fishery for brown pomfret lasted from December 1992 to February 1993. During December, 142 units went for fishing. Total pomfret landings during December came to 14.225 tonne with catch per unit of 100.2 kg. During January 326 fishing units landed 153.800 t of pomfret and the catch per unit for January came to 471.8 kg. During February, 91 units went for pomfret fishing with total landing of 10.250 t. Catch per unit for February was 112.6 kg. Very heavy brown pomfret catch was reported on three days in January 1993 (Tables 1 and 2). Brown pomfrets from 380 to 520 mm total length were recorded in the catches with modal size at 450 to 460 mm. Weight of the fish landed ranged from 0.75 to 2.5 kg. Catch disposal and price structure The catch was disposed off at the beach by auction as soon as landed. Boat owner got 50 per cent of the price as his share. The other 50 per cent was shared equally by the crew after deduc-tions were made for fuel and food. During days of low catch, price per kg of pomfret at the landing centre was Rs. 27 to Rs. 29. On days of heavy landings the price came down to Rs. 22 to 23 per kg. Total estimated value obtained by fishermen on three days of heavy landings is given in Table 2. Two wholesale fish merchants purchased all the catches ofpomfrets and sent them to markets in Kerala. 2 1 

Heavy landing of brown pomfret at Tuticorin

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Heavy landing of brown pomfret at Tuticorin

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