Ribbonfish, Trichiurus lepturus (Linnaeus) has become one of the most
important exploited resources in the northwest coast of India. It was landed as
bycatch of shrimp trawler earlier but on account of emerging export demand it
is now increasingly targeted. The resource has been monitored for more than
ten years. The landings of ribbonfishes varied between 16,000 t (1995) and
63,000 t (2000) with an average catch of 33,000 t. The trawl contributed about
93 % of the total landing. Peak catch rates were observed in September and
November-December. T. lepturus is a carnivorous predator feeding on
crustaceans, fishes and cephalopods. Spawning season is prolonged from
October-May. Individual fish spawns once in a year and the minimum size at
maturity is 75 cm. The fecundity varied between 4,900 and 81,000 with a relative
fecundity of 65 ova/gm of body weight
