26-36<span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:
" times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";mso-bidi-font-family:="" "times="" roman";mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:en-us;="" mso-bidi-language:ar-sa;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"="" lang="EN-US">Diversity and abundance of
pelagic shark bycatch in the tuna longline operations in northern Indian Ocean were examined for the period 2004-2010. During the survey 1.2 million hooks were
deployed in three regions of seas around India resulting in the catch of
1501 numbers of sharks. Significant variations in the diversity and abundance
of pelagic sharks were observed among the three regions of Indian seas. Catches
of sharks are prominent in Andaman & Nicobar region contributing 35.15% of
the catch by number and 51.46% by weight. In the eastern Arabian
Sea, sharks constituted 15.49% and 14.89% of the total catch by
number and weight respectively. In
western Bay of Bengal, this group contributed
7.74% (by number) and 9.33% (by weight) to the total catch. Alopias pelagicus, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">Carcharhinus limbatus, Alopias
superciliosus and Carcharhinus falciformis were the dominant species of
pelagic sharks observed in the Indian seas. Time series analysis of hooking
rates revealed drastic decline in the abundance of pelagic sharks in the
Arabian Sea as well as Bay of Bengal. </span