Resource characteristics and stock assessment of whitebaits

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Indian Journal of Fisheries 39 (3,4) : 152-168, September, December 1992

Resource characteristics and stock assessment of whitebaits

G LUTHER', K V NARAYANA RAO', G GOPAKUMAR" C MUTHIAH~. N GOPALAKRISHNA PILLA15.

PRATHIBHA ROHIP. K NARAYANA KURUP'. S. REUBEN'. P DEVAD06SY, G SYDA RAO'O, P SAM BENNET" and N S RADHAKRISHNAN'~

Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Cochin, Kerala 682 014

ABSTRACT

The fishery of whit&ait for 1979-88 was studied. The southern maritime states accounted for 97% of the country's whitebait landings. The quartenvise whitebait landings, gearwise catch and catch per unit effort for 19 85-88 were studied and discussed. Encrusicholinu devisi and Stolephorur waitei were the dominant species in the whitebait fishery. The fishery and biological characteristics of these two species at Visakhapamam, Madras, Vizhinjam. Cochin and Mmgalore are presented. Whitebait are short-lived fish, the longevity of E.

devisi being 1.9 years and that of S. waitei about 2.3 years. Both the species get recruited into the fishing ground at about 30-35 mm total length when 2-3 months d d . The fish from 40-55 mm length onwards (3-5 months old) are caught in greater abundance. The major bulk of the annual landings is constituted by 6-15 months old fish.

The growth parameters, mortality rates and exploitation ratios of the two species were estimated for both the coasts. Critical evaluation of the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) estimates in relation to biomass at MSY level indicated the possible increase in production of E. devisi by about 20% over the current yield with higher effort input along the west coast. For E. devisi in the east coast and S. wairei in both the coasts, the expected increase was only marginal.

Whitebait or the whitebait anchovy is the Encrasicholina Fowler, 1938. This group has common name applied to the fishes of the wide distribution in the IndoPacific region.

genera Stolephorus Lacepede 1803 and Our knowledge on the resource potential and some aspects of biology of the whitebaits of

Present Address: 'Rincipal Scientist. Visakhapatnam

India is largely due to the investigations of the

Research Centre of CMFRI. Andhra University P 0 Visakhapamam. A P 530 003.

2Principal Scientist, 'senior Scientist. 'Scientist (Se- lection Grade).

' 'Scientist (Selection Grade), Vizhinjam Research Cenm of CMFRI. Vizhinjam P 0. Trivandmm. Keraia 695 521.

4~cientist (Selection Grade), "Scientist. Mangalore Research Centre of CMFRI, PB No. 244, Bolar, Mangalore.

Dakshina Kanara, Karnataka 575 001.

"cientist (S-3) (Retd), 9-21-6, CBM Compound, AV Post Office, Visakhapatnam, AP 530 003.

'Senior Scientist, ''scientist (Selection Grade), Ma- dras Research Centre of CMFRI, 6811.4th Floor. Greams Road. Madras. T N 600 006.

''senior Scientist. Kakinada Research Centre of CMFRI. Door No. 8-14-38. Red Cross Street. Gandhi Nagar, Kakinada, A P 533 004.

"Scientist (Selection Grade) (Retd), IX- 12-9, Main Road, Padapallam P 0 , Kanyakumari. Kerala 629 159.

UNDPlFAO Pelagic Fishery Project (197 1 -

75) along the southwest coast of India extend- ing from Ratnagiri on the west coast (17" N) to Tuticorin (8" 48' N) on the cast coast (Anon 1974 a, b; 1976 a, b

;

Menon and George 1975). Luther (1990) gives an account of the biology of whitebait anchovies of the Indian waters. Other works relate to certain selected centres, namely, Vizhinjam (Luther 1972, 1979; Luther et al. 1984) and Mangalore- Cochin (Rao et al. 1982 and Rao 1988 a, b).

This study is on the fishery, biology and stock

assessment of the whitebaits with special

reference to the two dominant species,

Encrasicholina devisi and Stolephcrus waitei,

along the Indian coast.

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