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Marine

Research and Management

Editors

V.N. Pillai and N.G. Menon

Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute

(Indian Council of Agricultural Research) Tatapuram P.O., Cochin-682 014

Kerala, India

2000

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^1 1 Exploited r e s o u r c e s of major p e r c h e s in India

Grace Mathew, P. Nammalwar, S.K. Chakraborty, P. Livingstone, K.K.Philippose and K.M.S. Ameer Hamsa.

ABSTRACT

The present paper reviews the studies on the exploited re- sources oj inqjor perches from, the Indian seas. Major perches consist of Jairly large sized fishes belonging to families Serranidae, Lutjanidae and Lethrinidae, popularly known as rock cods,snappers and pigface breams respectively. They form 17% of the total perch catch. The average annual production of major perches in the country during 1990-98 is estimated as 23,800t.

The highest landing of major perches is from the state ofTamilnadu (49.5%), followed by Kerala (19.74%). Tliey inhabit the rocky and coralline grounds of/" the south west and south east coasts and the Wadge Bank and also in the rocky grounds off Gujarat and Maharashtra . Along the south west and south east coasts, the peak fishing season is from December to April. This resource

could be exploited more efficiently by hooks and lines as well as the traps rather than trawl nets, as the grounds are often not trawlable.

I n t r o d u c t i o n

The group 'major perches', a s the n a m e implies are large sized Perciform fishes b e l o n g i n g m a i n l y to t h e families S e r r a n i d a e , L u t j a n i d a e a n d Lethrinidae; commonly called a s rock cods, s n a p p e r s a n d pigface b r e a m s respectively. Most of the species belonging to this group inhabit the rocky

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Exploited resources of major perches in India grounds and the coral reef areas, while a few prefer the seagrass beds and muddy and sandy bottoms (Bensam 1993). Juveniles of many species oc- cur in the nearshore areas, river mouths and estuaries. Major perches occur all along the Indian coast; they are particularly abundant off Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gulf of Mannar, Gulf of Kutch, Paradeep and in the Andaman seas. The major perches constitute roughly 2% of the total marine fish production in the country, with an average total of 23,800 t during 1990-98 period. The catchable potential of all perches within the 50m depth zone is about 1,14,000 t and that beyond 50m is 1,25,0001. (Anon, 1991). Most of the grounds being not amenable to trawling operations, the major perches are exploited mainly by other gear like hooks and lines, traps and also the drift nets.

The experimental and exploratory fishing carried out by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute and the Fishery Survey of India, give valuable information on the abundance and distribution of major perches in the Indian EEZ. (Gopinath, 1954; Menon and Joseph, 1969; Silas, 1969;

Menon etal, 1977, Bapat etaL,1977, Ninan etal, 1984, PhiHp etal, 1984, Joseph et aJ., 1987; Sudarshan et al., 1988 and Oommen, 1989). Hornell (1916), had pointed out the existence of rich perch fishing grounds along the south west coasts of India. A number of reports on the fishery of major perches are by Madan Mohan (1983), Mathew et al. (1996), Mathew and Venugopalan (1990), Vlvekanandan etal. (1990), Mathew (1994), Bennet and Arumugham (1994), Lazarus et al.(1994), Kasim and Hamsa (1994) and Hamsa and Kasim (1994). A few reports available on the biology of perches are by Premalatha (1989) and Chakraborthy (1994). James et al. ( 1994) has given a review of the present status of the knowledge on these resources.

Almost the entire array of species of major perches are excellent food fishes and hence have gained great demand In the export market, both in the live condition as well as in the frozen form. Of late, these are gaining importance for commercial mariculture in various countries including In- dia.

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Marine Flgherie* Regearch and Management

Distribution of major p e r c h e s i n t h e Indian EEZ.

In the trawling operations carried out by FORV Sagar Sampada during cruises 1-90, major perches were available at d e p t h s 2 3 to 250 m, with an average catch r a t e of 1 2 1 . 0 2 k g / hr. Fairly high catch r a t e of 1 4 3 . 5 1 k g / h r was obtained from the Andaman Sea. The average catch r a t e from s o u t h west region w a s 193.04 k g / h r The s o u t h e a s t coast including Gulf of Mannar a good catch rate of 1 3 0 k g / h r was available. At many s t a t i o n s on the Wadge B a n k a n d off Quilon, t h e entire c a t c h was c o n s t i t u t e d by p e r c h e s (Mathew e t a l . , 1996).

In the n o r t h western region of the Indian coast, in the survey con- ducted using bottom trawls from a 70m vessel a t d e p t h s 55 to 360m, six species of rock cods belonging to family Serranidae viz. Epinephelus areolatus, E.Jasciatus, E. malabaricus, E. lanceolatus and E. latifasciatus contributed to t h e c a t c h e s (Bapat et al, 1982). During t h e entire survey, the highest catch r a t e 13.3kg/ h o u r was obtained from 91-125 m, followed by 6.1 k g / h o u r in 126-360m a n d 1.93 kg in 55-90m d e p t h zone. In t h i s survey, t h e catch r a t e of s n a p p e r s w a s 4.6 kg / h o u r in the 9 1 - 1 2 5 m , followed by 1.89 k g / h o u r in the 126-360m a n d 1.5 k g / h o u r in the 55-90m d e p t h zones. The highest catch r a t e of 32.7 k g / h o u r was obtained in April-May. C h a k r a b o r t y (1994) h a s reported t h a t half a dozen species of Epinephelus occur regularly in the catch a t Bombay a s by-catch in s h r i m p trawls, of which E. diacanthus is the most d o m i n a n t one. The r e s u l t s of the survey conducted a t 20-23°N a n d 68- 70°E d u r i n g 1985-88 u s i n g a trawl with a 3 2 m h e a d rope showed t h a t major p e r c h e s constituted 4.2% of the total catch; the peak period of a b u n d a n c e extending from October to February. The c a t c h r a t e s varied between years, r a n g i n g from zero to 3 k g / h o u r a n d t h e h i g h e s t between 41 a n d 70m (Vivekanandan et at, 1990). From the surveys conducted by the Fisheries Survey of India in the n o r t h west between lat. 14 and 17° N, the highest percentage composition of major perches of 28.2 was at a depth range of 80-

100m. a n d in the 18° to 2 3 ° N, the h i g h e s t percentage of 8.5-8.9 w a s a t d e p t h s ranging from 60 to 100m( S u d a r s a n et al., 1988). The survey con- ducted in t h e a r e a between 10°-15° N a n d 72°-76°E a t a d e p t h ranging from 50 -500m, u s i n g 47m s h r i m p trawl a n d 27 m fish trawl, major perches were most a b u n d a n t from 14° to 15°N, with catch r a t e s u p to 4.3 kg / h o u r (Philip

et al. 1984).

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Exploited resources of major p e r c h e s in India Table 1. Latitudwisc al)iindance (in kg) of perches on the Western half of Indian

EEZ at different depth zonos

Latitude Liiljaniis s p p . Lelliriiui> spp. Serranii.s s p p . Plectorhinchiis spp. Otlier T o t a l Perches

Southwest coast 7

9"

13°

Depth

11°

12°

13°

14°

Depth

13°

15°

51- 147

41 41 30 100 m

835 126 5 - - 25

- 101-150 m

- 18

- Northwest coast Depth

18°

Depth 15°

16°

17°

18°

19°

0-50 m

5 1 - -100 m

4 - 25 - _

201 141

632 472

468 135

35

433 587 47 300 39 35 500

9 6 398

254 88 241 35

750

2 150

329 169

17

19

1 1

1566 317 2 225

2229 1354 52 300 39 60 500

26 24 389

19

4 255 113 241 35

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4 7 2 1 - _

4 7 2 1 6 0 6 20" - - -

21° - - -

22° - - 60 23° - - 6 Depth 101-150 m

16° - - 23 - - 23 Latitudewise abundance (in kg) of perches on the Eastern half of Indian EEZ at different depth zones

Latitude Luganus spp. Lethrinus spp. Senanus spp. FtecfDrhinchus spp. Other perches Total Depth

10°

11°

12°

13°

14°

Depth

10°

11°

13°

14°

15°

Depth 10°

0-50 m 18 3 7 0 2 0 4 16 - 5 1 - 1 0 0 m

- 9 3 - 1 0 6 2 5 1 - 101-150 m

14 Northeast coast Depth

15°

16°

17°

18°

0-50 m 2 4 0 -

"

10 - 3 5 0 - 2 5 -

- 1 9 3

- 18 1 0 2 3 2

-

3 - -

"

4 6 2 9 4 0 - 1

-

- 17 - 4 9 6 -

-

- - -

—f--^R4.n"~~>

1 - - - 3 0 -

2 0 0 2 6 4 - - - -

-

- 12

-

"

- 18

- 9 0 - -

- 2 7 0 5 0 18 6 0 -

-

- 3 17 4

7 4 5 0 4 6 0 2 9 4 7 2 -

2 0 0 8 3 7 5 0 1 4 6 5 0 9 3 2

14

5 5 5 17 4

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Exploited resources of major p e r c h e s in India 19° 120

20"

Depth 5 1 - 1 0 0 m 16° 91 17° 16 18° 158 19° 1640

- -

15

-

7 0 3 7 2

- -

3 8

-

3 2 2 10

7 2 3 8

1 1 3 1 0 2 U O 6 0

- -

5

-

8 2 5

1 9 2 3 8

2 6 2 1 1 8 6 6 8 2107 On the s o u t h west coast, a t latitude 7° a n d 8° N the catch ranged between 300 a n d 900 k g / h o u r ; at many s t a t i o n s on the Wadge B a n k a n d off Quilon B a n k , the e n t i r e c a t c h w a s c o n s t i t u t e d by p e r c h e s (Mathew et at., 1996). From the survey carried out by FORV Sagar Sampada in the 8° to 15° N along the s o u t h west, considering the depth s t r a t a 0-50m a n d 5 1 - 100m, the most productive perch g r o u n d s were located at 7° a n d 8° N (Table 1). Since 1956. the erstwhile Indo-Norwegian project conducted several fish- ing trips for the survey of "Kalava " g r o u n d s along the rocky p a t c h e s lying in 70-150 m depth zone on the continental shelf from Trivandrum to C a n a n n o r e . In the a r e a between 8° and 13° N at d e p t h s of 60- 150m , the bottom is uneven, with rocky outcrops and coralline a r e a s forming extensive ridges reaching u p t o 5m from ground level (Silas, 1969; Oommen, 1989). This a r e a rich in rock cods, s n a p p e r s and pigface b r e a m s are called "kalava g r o u n d s "

According to Silas (1969), these g r o u n d s cover nearly 14000^ km in the 7 5 - 100m depth range off the s o u t h west coast of India, a n d the h a n d h n e opera- tion trials here yielded 2 0 0 - 3 0 0 kg / 100 hooks / h o u r from 8°-9° N a n d near 11° N, a n d 180 to 190 kg /lOO hooks / h o u r f r o m 10-11° N. Handllne trials conducted at 8° to 13° N u s i n g six vessels yielded 42 kg / h o u r (Oommen, 1989). Maximum c a t c h e s a n d catch rates were obtained during J a n u a r y ; the species c a u g h t were Epinephelus chlorostigma, E. diacanthus, E. areolatus, E. tauvina, E. morrhua, Pristipomoides typus, E. bleekeri. Lutjanus gibbus.L. rivulatus, L. lutjanus. Tholasilingam et al, (1973) h a s given a n a c c o u n t of the kalava r e s o u r c e s a n d kalava grounds on the s o u t h west coast based on investigations of R.V.Varuna. A h a n d l l n e survey c o n d u c t e d on the shelf extending from C a n a n n o r e to s o u t h west of Quilon (8° 30' to 10° 15'N) yielded @ 6 8 kg / h o u r (Menon a n d J o s e p h , 1 9 6 9 ) . E.areolatus, E.,

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Marine Fisheries Research and Management

chlorostigma, E. diacanthus a n d P. typus were the main species c a u g h t . High- est catch r a t e s were obtained during February. The g r o u n d s from 11° to 12

° N yielded higher catches of these species t h a n the a r e a s further s o u t h . M e n o n et al., ( 1 9 7 7 ) c o n d u c t e d e x p e r i m e n t a l f i s h i n g u s i n g t r a p s (186x86x86cm) during 1975-76 using three vessels in the area off 8 ° - l l ° N, 74°-76 ° E and found the a r e a between Alleppey a n d Ponnani to be the rich- est ground for rock cods a n d s n a p p e r s . The n u m b e r of fish varied from a minimum of 5 per t r a p in August to a m a x i m u m of 4 8 per t r a p in April.

The 10 year t r a p survey described by Oommen (1989) b a s e d on the s a m e design a s t h a t of Menon e t a l . , (1977) conducted from 8° -13°N, showed t h a t the average catch r a t e was a b o u t 80 k g / hour; and m a x i m u m catch per t r a p h o u r (166 kg)was obtained in J u n e . S u l o c h a n a n and J o h n (1988)have reported on perch yield of 6 2 - 9 6 k g / h o u r during October-December a n d 60- 78 k g / h o u r d u r i n g March- May in the 40-50 m depth zone in the area s o u t h of 8 °N. Yield was found to be better in the 51 to 100m depth zone on the s o u t h west coast.The m a x i m u m catch rate of 850 k g / h o u r was observed in this depth zone on t h e Wadge Bank; from the Quilon Bank and from the rocky p a t c h e s off Ponnani , catch r a t e s u p t o 420 kg / h o u r and 2 4 8 kg / h o u r respectively were obtained from the 51 to 100m d e p t h zone. Off Karnataka, fairly d e n s e concentrations of 3 0 0 k g / h o u r of major perches were obtained from depth u p t o 100m(Mathew et al, 1996).

On the s o u t h east coast between 7° 00' and 8° 20'N and76° 30' and 78°

OO'E, at d e p t h s extending u p t o 2 2 3 m on the Wadge Bank in the trawl survey conducted u s i n g a 41m vessel a n d 34 m two-seam bottom trawl in an area of 3600nm^ , where the bottom w a s generally of h a r d rock, covered with dense growth of seafans and corals, was rich in the major perch r e s o u r c e s . J o s e p h et al.,(1987) reports t h a t during t h i s survey, the rock cods, s n a p p e r s and the pigface b r e a m s together constituted 3 7 % of the total c a t c h e s . The n o r t h east p a r t of the Wadge Bank was the richest ground for major perches; a well defined perch ground was also located off 7° 40'- 8° OO'N and 77° 20' - 78°

OO'E at d e p t h s between 36 and 64 m. On the Wadge Bank the a b u n d a n c e of these fishes decreased with increasing depth. Based on trawl survey, in the Wadge Bank, Slvaprakasm (1986) and S u d a r s a n et al.,(1988) reported t h a t perches were more a b u n d a n t at 20-50m a n d 100-150m depth and t h a t their a b u n d a n c e decreased beyond this depth. On t h e Wadge Bank , the peak

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Exploited resources of major p e r c h e s In India period of a b u n d a n c e was observed to be J a n u a r y -Februay (Joseph et aL, 1987).

Somavanshl a n d Bhar (1984) In a survey conducted in the Gulf of M a n n a r , r e p o r t e d t h a t major p e r c h e s c o n t r i b u t e d 2 1 % of t h e c a t c h e s h e r e , s n a p p e r s being the most dominant, followed by rock cods a n d pig face b r e a m s . The most productive a r e a s for p e r c h e s here were in the d e p t h s u p t o 50m. From the s t u d i e s made on board FORV Sugar Sampada, on the s o u t h e a s t e r n p a r t s of the Indian EEZ, this resource was fairly a b u n d a n t d u r i n g the first half of t h e year a t d e p t h s u p t o 50m. Fairly d e n s e p o p u l a t i o n s of p e r c h e s were available during April-September period in the 51-100m depth zone.(Mathew et al., 1996). Good perch g r o u n d s were located in the shallow coastal w a t e r s upto 50m depth off Cuddalore, Pondicherry and catch r a t e s upto 3 5 0 - 4 0 0 k g / h o u r were obtained in 51-100m d e p t h s off Point Callmer and off M a d r a s (Mathew et al., 1996). In t h e Andaman-Nlcobar sea, a total production of 3.87 t o n n e s of major perches were obtained d u r i n g the fishing cruises of FORV Sagar Sampada. of which 9 7 . 5 % came from t h e 51-lOOm d e p t h zone. This resource showed an a b u n d a n c e during J a n u a r y -March a n d October-December m o n t h s . From t h e n o r t h e a s t e r n region, 9 1 % of t h e total perches c a u g h t were from the 51-lOOm. Stations with d e n s e populations of perches were located in the depth zone 5 1 - 100m off Gopalpur a n d Paradeep coasts (Mathew et al., 1996). In the trawl survey conducted by Nlnan et al.,(1984) in t h e region off 14° 04'-17° 30'N d u r i n g 1983-84 period, p e r c h e s formed 4.4% of the total catch of 176 t of fish.

Fishery

The average a n n u a l production of major perches in t h e c o u n t r y during 1990-'98 period h a s been estimated a s 2 3 , 7 3 2 t forming 17% of the total perch c a t c h (Fig 1.), a n d roughly 2 % of the total fish production in the country.

These are exploited mainly by trawl n e t s , hook and line, gill n e t s a n d the perch t r a p s , t h o u g h there is no targeted fishing for t h e s e r e s o u r c e s except for the hook a n d line fisheries in vogue along Kerala and Tamil Nadu coasts a n d recently in K a r n a t a k a (ZacharIa et al, 1997). A p e r u s a l of the a n n u a l production s t a t i s t i c s of major p e r c h e s in the country d u r i n g 1990-98 shows t h a t it is steadily on the increase with a minimum of 11,319 t o n n e s In 1990 to a m a x i m u m of 3 5 , 9 4 8 t o n n e s in 1998.

Statewise , the highest landings occur off Tamil Nadu, followed by Kerala

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Marine Fisheries Research and Management

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994

Fig 1. All India landings of Major perches.

Gujarat, M a h a r a s h t r a , K a r n a t a k a and Andhra Pradesh(Table 2.). Along the coasts of Orlssa and West Bengal the fishery for these r e s o u r c e s is very negligible.

There is an organised fishery for major perches in Tamil Nadu, along the Gulf of M a n n a r a n d the Wadge Bank, u s i n g b o t h m e c h a n i s e d , a s well as n o n - m e c h a n i s e d traditional m e t h o d s . The a n n u a l estimated catch of major perches here varying from 5114 t o n n e s to 17,863tonnes d u r i n g 1990-98 pe- riod, is contributed by pigface breams(63%), rock cods(23.8%) and s n a p - pers(12.3%) in the order of a b u n d a n c e (Fig.2). Peak s e a s o n of a b u n d a n c e for perch fishery along the Tamil Nadu coast is from December to April, al- though good c a t c h e s are recorded t h r o u g h o u t t h e year.

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Exploited r e s o u r c e s of major p e r c h e s In India Table 2. Statewise major perch landings.

Year Gujarat Mahara- Karnata- Kerala T.Nadu Pondi- Aiidlii-a Orissa \V,

shtra ka chery Pra Ben desh gal

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 Total Mean

%

1029.15 1354.15 1383.9 1803.4 2517.3 2651.1 2900.7 4546.6 6126.7 24327.9 2703.1 11.3

2010 2058.4 2544.7 2281.6 1975 2047 2187.6 1817.3 1336.1 16082.6 1786.96

7.47 416 821.7 605 840 1524.7 1602.3 2093.2 2902.2 3017 13822.2

1535.8 6.4

2382 1139 3202 4093 3374 5663 7663 7673 7751 42940 4771

19.74 5114 8763 7250 10644 12394 13245 15633 17863 15658 106564 11840 49.5

21 5 10 8 10 5 5 2 9 65 7.2 0.02

453 913 630 970 1673 1931 1799 1345 1612 11326 1258

5.26 8 6 4 10 5 4 6 18 10 69 7.7 0.03

5 8 6 10 6 4 5 15 12 75 8.3 0.03

Kerala r a n k s s e c o n d in t h e major p e r c h l a n d i n g s d u r i n g 1 9 9 0 - 9 8 period.The average a n n u a l catch was estimated as 4771.1 t, forming 19.74%.

Non-mechanised gears, especially, the hooks a n d lines are u s e d in the ex- ploitation of large p e r c h e s from the well known perch g r o u n d s off Kerala coast. The deep sea trawlers a s well a s the commercial trawlers land p e r c h e s from the g r o u n d s off Ponnanl, off Cochin a n d Alleppey, off the Quilon Bank, off Trivandrum a n d the Wadge Bank in the s o u t h , and off C a n n a n n o r e in the n o r t h . Perch fishery exploited by traditional gears in Kerala is mainly of sea- sonal n a t u r e , commencing from October and extending to April. The s e a s o n a l fishery of perches in Kerala have been studied by Mohan (1983) and Mathew (1990). Rock cods c o n s t i t u t e the most d o m i n a n t g r o u p (76.7%), followed by

CTeis^

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Marine Fisheriea Research and Management

18000

16000

14000

12000

10000

80OO-

6000

4000

200O

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994

Flg2. Major perch landings-Tamllnadu.

1995 1996 1997 1998

s n a p p e r s (12%) and the pigface b r e a m s (10%) (Fig 3). 7 5 % of the year's catch was recorded during the J a n u a r y - March period, 20% of the production was realized during October -December period w h e r e a s May to September was the lean period.

A n n u a l average landings of major perches from Gujarat during 1990- 98 period was 2703.1 t o n n e s (11.3%), followed by M a h a r a s h t r a (7.47%). Rock cods were the major component in the fishery in Gujarat, the fishing season extending from October to March. Along t h e M a h a r a s h t r a coast, trawlers are the main gear u s e d for the exploitation of major p e r c h e s . Rock cods formed 65% of the catch, followed by s n a p p e r s (28%) and the pig face b r e a m s con- t r i b u t e d a very negligible q u a n t i t y . Major s e a s o n for p e r c h fishery in M a h a r a s h t r a was from October to December, which is the peak s e a s o n for rock cods h e r e . K a r n a t a k a c o n t r i b u t e s 6.42 % of the total perch catch in the country with average landings of 1535.79 tonnes a n n u a l l y . Peak season ex- t e n d s from October to March, rock cods being the major component in the

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Exploited r e s o u r c e s of malor p e r c h e s in India

8000-/

7000-

6000

5000

i 4000

3000

2000

1000-

1990 1991 ' 1992 1903

Fig 3. Major perch landings-Kerala

catch . Andhra Pradesh c o n t r i b u t e s 5.28% of the total perch catch, with a n average a n n u a l catch of 1253.4 t o n n e s . The s e a s o n of peak a b u n d a n c e w a s d u r i n g J a n u a r y to March: the s n a p p e r s form 8 5 % of the fishery, a n d rock cods c o n t r i b u t e 9 . 3 % .

Fishery a t Tuticorin: Tuticorin is one of the i m p o r t a n t c e n t r e s where major perches exploited from the Gulf of M a n n a r , by both m e c h a n i s e d a s well a s traditional crafts, are landed. During the year 1998, the estimated total catch of major p e r c h e s from this centre w a s 5 0 5 5 tonnes,(Anon, 1999), exploited from the n e a r s h o r e rocky a r e a s and i s l a n d s or ' p a a r s ' from d e p t h s extending to 50m. Perches form a b o u t 10.9% of t h e total m a r i n e fish landings by t r a - ditional gear at Tuticorin (Bennet a n d A r u m u g h a m . 1994). Except d u r i n g No- vember and December when t u r b u l a n t conditions prevailed d u e to n o r t h east monsoon, fairly good catch of p e r c h e s was recorded in all o t h e r m o n t h s . Hooks and lines are the most i m p o r t a n t traditional gear, operated for fishing large sized perches, which c o n s t i t u t e 45-50% of the total fish c a t c h from this gear. Hooks a n d lines are ideally suited for fishing the perches distributed over wide a r e a s . Long line u n i t s popularly known a s 'Ayiramkal thoondll", a c c o u n t e d for over 4 5 . 8 % of larger p e r c h e s . Nearly 7 5 % of t h e perch catch

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IMarine Fisheries Re»earch and Management

landed here is from the mechanised trawlers . The gearwlse fishery for perches at Tuticorin is described by Bennet a n d A r u m u g h a m (1994) . Studies on the perch fishery a t Tuticorin were m a d e by Mathew (1994), H a m s a et al, (1992), and Kasim et al. (1992).

T h o u g h t h e r e is a clear c u t s e a s o n a l p r e p o n d e r a n c e of p e r c h e s at Tuticorin, the m o n t h s of peak a b u n d a n c e are from December to April (Bennet a n d A r u m u g h a m 1994). The pig face b r e a m s or Lethrinus spp. contribute 62% of t h e total p e r c h e s from all the gears p u t together, followed by rock cods 14.7% a n d s n a p p e r s 9.12%.

Seasonal hook and l i n e fishery for p e r c h e s at Pamban : A s e a s o n a l hook a n d line fishery for p e r c h e s a t P a m b a n h a s been reported by J a y a s a n k a r (1990). During December-March period, the Tuticorin fishermen migrate to P a m b a n a n d operate hooks a n d lines along the coral reefs off D h a n u s h k o d i at d e p t h s 18-25m. Lethrinus spp. (34.01%), Lutjaus spp.(22.95%), Epinephelus spp.(6.87%), Pristlpomoides spp.(4.67%) were the i m p o r t a n t species landed.

Seasonal fishery for p e r c h e s u s i n g h o o k s and line in Kerala : Along the Kerala coast, s e a s o n a l fishery for perches Is in vogue from the rocky g r o u n d s off V a r k a l a , T r i v a n d r u m . P o o v a r .PuUuvila etc. d u r i n g December to April m o n t h s . Mohan (1983) h a s analysed the s e a s o n a l fishery for p e r c h e s of PuUuvila village. A s e a s o n a l fishery for p e r c h e s u s i n g hooks a n d lines exists at Cochin during November -April period. (Mathew and Venugopalan, 1990).

The fishermen from t h e s o u t h west of Trivandrum migrate to Cochin; with b a s e a t t h i s place, using the pablo type, mechanised b o a t s of length upto 9.4m, carrying sufficient n u m b e r of hooks a n d lines carry out fishing on the rocky g r o u n d s off P o n n a n i , Cochin a n d off Alleppey. Perches formed the most i m p o r t a n t component of t h e c a t c h c o n s t i t u t i n g over 9 0 % ; e l a s m o b r a n c h s formed 4.42%, t u n a s 2.85%, Coryphaena 0.6%, catfish 0.29% and b a r r a c u d a 0.62% .

Seasonal fishery for perches off Karnataka: Off the coast of Karnataka, Zacharia et al .,(1997) h a s reported on the large scale landing of rock cods during the post monsoon m o n t h of September every year from 1994 on- w a r d s , with catch r a t e varying from 183.3 kg to 300.5kg / u n i t . The catch consisted of five species namely, Epinephelus diacanthus(82.65%), E.epistictus

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Exploited r e s o u r c e s of major p e r c h e s In India ( 7 . 7 1 % ) , E.malabaricus ( 4 . 6 % ) , E.latifasciatus ( 3 . 2 1 % ) a n d E.

chlorostigmai 1.9%).

S p e c i e s c o m p o s i t i o n of major perches: Important species belonging to the three families, contributing to the fishery are mainly: Family S e r r a n i d a e ( Rock cods or the groupers): Epinephelus malabaricus, E.tauvina, E. bleekeri, E. areolatus, E. diacanthus, E. epistictus, E. fasclatus, E. faveatus, E.flavocaeruleus, E. latifasciatus, E.morhua, E.undulosus, E. merra, E.

fuscoguttatus, E.chlorostigma, Cephalopholis sonnerati, C.miniata. Family Lethrinidae(pig face b r e a m s ): Lethrinus nebulosus, L. ramak, L. mahsenoides, Lethrinus spp., Lethrinella miniatus, a n d Family Lutjanidae fsnappers) are Lutjanus argentimaculatus, L. bohar, L. rivulatus, L.bengalensis, L. biguttatus, L. Julviflamma, L. gibbus, L. Johnii. L. kashmira, L. sebae, L. sanguineus, L.

russelli, a n d Pristipomoides typus.

Biology

Information on the biology of i m p o r t a n t species of p e r c h e s is scanty, t h o u g h t h e s e were exploited in the s o u t h west a n d the s o u t h e a s t c o a s t s , in varying quantities . Most of the species are large sized, though a large n u m b e r have been reported, only a few occur in the commercial c a t c h e s . They are predatory fishes feeding on crabs, p r a w n s a n d other fishes s u c h a s therapon, ambassis etc. (Devanesan a n d C h i d a m b a r a m , 1948). Among major p e r c h e s , the rock cods or g r o u p e r s are protogynous h e r m a p h r o d i t e s , initially m a t u r - ing a s females, t h e n reverting to males with advancing age a n d sizes. (Tan and Tan, 1974 ).

A few r e p o r t s available on the biology of major p e r c h e s a r e b a s e d on preliminary Investigations . Oommen (1976) studied the food a n d feeding h a b i t s of Pristipomoides typus b a s e d on samples t a k e n off the Kerala coast. Fish, c u m a c e a n s , mysids, crabs, s t o m a t o p o d s a n d cephalopods formed the impor- t a n t food items, b u t 62% of the fishes examined h a d everted s t o m a c h s . Length -weight r e l a t i o n s h i p w a s calculated for P.typus a s log W= - 5 . 1 0 0 2 + 3 . 0 3 0 3 log L from s a m p l e s of 3 4 5 s p e c i m e n s in the l e n g t h r a n g e 2 1 . 5 to 3 4 . 9 c m . P r e m a l a t h a (1989), estimated the length - weight relationship for females of s a m e species ranging in length from 35 to 60cm a s log W= - 1 . 4 9 5 9 + 2 . 7 0 6 3 log L. The spawning season was determined to be F e b r u a r y - J u n e .

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Marine Fisheries Research and Management

Bapat et al., (1982) observed m a t u r e and s p e n t a d u l t s of Epinephelus diacanthus during September. Silas (1969) collected juveniles of this species from 30 to 60m a n d 100-160m d e p t h s in J u n e 1966. C h a k r a b o r t y (1994) estimated the growth and mortality p a r a m e t e r s for this species b a s e d on length frequency d a t a of samples collected from commercial trawlers at Bom- bay a s L = 5 0 2 m m , K=0.16 on a n n u a l b a s i s , M = 1 . I 5 / year a n d F=0.79 / year. P r e m a l a t h a (1989) estimated length-weight relationship for the females of t h i s species as log W = - l . 3 0 5 6 + 2 . 6 1 1 7 log L, b a s e d on specimens ranging from 20 to 55cm. The spawning period w a s determined a s M a y - J u n e . The spawning s e a s o n for E. areolatus , along the Kerala coast was determined as J u n e to J u l y a n d length - weight relationship logW=-l.2521+2.55772 log L for females and log W= -0.8994+2.3287 log L for males derived, b a s e d on specimens ranging from 29 t o 5 5 cm (Premalatha, 1989).

In E. tauvina, fishes of 4 5 to 50 cm m a t u r e a s females while fish of more t h a n 74 cm and. weighing 11kg become males having ripe testes . In speci- m e n s of 66-72cm length, transitional g o n a d s contain male a s well a s female t i s s u e s (Tan a n d Tan 1974). Ameer H a m s a a n d Kasim (1992) studied the growth of juveniles of E. tauvina in coastal cages in the Gulf of M a n n a r , s t a r t i n g with juveniles of size 4-25cm. The growth was studied for different periods . Selvaraj and Rajagopalan (1973) have presented some observa- tions on the morphometrlc and meristic c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , and also on the fe- cundity a n d spawning h a b i t s of this species in the wild. Mathew et a\.,a (in p r e s s ) have studied the sex inversion a n d n a t u r a l spawning of this species in the onshore c u l t u r e system . Good growth of 775gm in 7 m o n t h s was at- tained in E. malabaricus of size 10 to 15 cm in onshore c u l t u r e system u n d e r controlled conditions(Mathew et al., b in press). Length -weight rela- tionships of E. chlorostigma-were estimated a s log W = - 2 . 7 1 1 5 + 3 . 0 4 2 5 logL in the case of females a n d log W= -1.7501+2.8497 log L in males, using fishes of t h e length r a n g e 3 2 - 6 5 cm. The spawning s e a s o n for this species was also found a s J u n e - J u l y (Premalatha, 1989).

Hamsa et al.,(1994) estimated the length-weight r e l a t i o n s h i p s for the s n a p p e r Lutjanus rivulatus from a sample of 279 specimens .ranging in size from 110 to 7 6 0 m m a s Log W= -4.682+ 2.9562Log L (r=0.9620) , exhibiting isometric growth . The relative condition factor Kn indicated t h a t older speci- m e n s m e a s u r i n g above 420 mm were more h e a l t h y a n d r o b u s t t h a n the

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Exploited resources of major p e r c h e s i n India younger ones. Rengarajan (1972b) s t a t e s t h a t Lutjanus kashmira spawn only once during November-March. Length at first m a t u r i t y was estimated a s 20cm a n d fecundity ranging from 4 2 , 1 0 0 to 3 3 2 , 6 2 0 . The length-weight relationships of Lethrinus nebulosus h a s been estimated by H a m s a a n d Kasim (1994) a s Log W= - 4 . 5 3 6 4 + 2 . 9 0 7 8 Log L with r value 0.9672. P r a b h u (1954) h a s described the length - weight relationships of t h i s species by the equation Log W= -2.0830+3.1901 Log L from M a n d a p a m w a t e r s .

D i s c u s s i o n

Considerable information Is already available on the major perch re- sources of the s o u t h west coast of India. The earlier works of J o h n (1948), dealing with the Kalava fishing off Anjengo and Chavara; of Gopinath (1954) on the Kalava fishing s o u t h of Alleppey and Wadge Bank, a n d of Sivalingam and Medcoff (1957) on the possibilities of trawling on the Wadge Bank are i m p o r t a n t . Kalava fishing from the rocky a r e a s off Varkala, T r i v a n d r u m , Poovar, Pulluvlla, h a s been in vogue for d e c a d e s . S u b s e q u e n t surveys also revealed the existence of good kalava g r o u n d s in the rocky p a t c h e s , in the 70-110m depth zone from Trivandrum to C a n n a n o r e . Handline operations n o r t h west of Cochin,off Chetuway and Ponnani yielded good c a t c h of large p e r c h e s . The rocky g r o u n d s off s o u t h west coast yielded good catch of p e r c h e s , u s i n g t r a p s . J o s e p h and J o h n (1987) a n d J a m e s et al., (1987) sug- gest greater scope for increased exploitation of perches along both coasts particularly along s o u t h west coast a n d Wadge Bank.

The presently known perch g r o u n d s are rough and not suitable for trawling. By adopting diversified fishing m e t h o d s a n d s u i t a b l e techniques to s u i t the uneven g r o u n d s , the underexploited fraction of t h e s e r e s o u r c e s could be exploited. Production of p e r c h e s could be e n h a n c e d further by intro- ducing t r a p s a n d intensifying fishing with hooks and line in the 7 5 - 1 0 0 m depth zone off the s o u t h west coast, a t d e p t h s of 35-65m in the Gulf of Mannar a n d n o r t h e a s t region of the Wadge Bank, also at d e p t h s 9 1 - 1 2 5 m along the n o r t h west coast which are a b u n d a n t In p e r c h e s .

A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t

The a u t h o r s express their gratitude to Dr.V.N.Plllal, Director ,CMFRI, and to Dr. M.Devaraj, former Director, for the e n c o u r a g e m e n t given in this work.

' 6 5 1

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References

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