Heavy landing of Charybdis smithii and need for proper utilization

Abstract

Heavy landings of Charybdis smithii during the January to March, 2020 was documented in Mangalore fisheries harbour. These crabs were the part of trawl discards as geo-coded in situ data collection on trawl discards showed that C. smithii was available along Karnataka coast during August to December and in May as pelagic or semi-pelagic shoals from a depth range of more than 100 m. Landing of this species in Fisheries Harbours was generally rare since there was very limited market demand for these crab