Ribbonfish Fisheries of India

By : Patadiya D.S , P. Jawahar , Mogalekar H.S. , Sudhan C , Jyoti Saroj , Ramesh Kumar , Upadhyay. A.

Page No: 99-106

Abstract
Present paper overviews the species composition, distribution, food and feeding, size at first maturity, spawning, fecundity, fishing season, mode of exploitation, population dynamics, production trend, utilization pattern, conservation and management of ribbonfish fisheries of India over last 25 years. In total ten species of ribbonfishes belonging to three genera have been recorded from India waters. All the species of ribbonfishes are highly carnivorous. Size at first maturity of Ribbonfishes ranges from 24 cm to 56 cm. Trichiurus lepturus is found to lay up to 1, 34,000 ova and peak spawning on the west coast is from April – June and along the east coast during February to June. The fishing season extending from July to April but the peak is from October –December. The principal gear is trawl net. The other gears are dol net, drift gill net, boat seine and shore seine. The production of ribbonfish from 1991 to 2015 ranged 74043 tones (1995) to 252179 tonnes (2013) with average production of was 156533 tonnes. The average ribbon fish contribution to the total pelagic fish production was 10.46 % and contribution to the total marine fisheries production was 5.51 %. Ribbonfishes are increasingly being targeted in India on account of its demand for export to Southeast Asian countries. As the pace of exploitation is changing, it is essential to monitor the fishery and biological characteristics to suggest various regulatory measures.

Authors :
Patadiya D.S., Jawahar P., Mogalekar H.S., Sudhan C., Jyoti Saroj, Ramesh Kumar and Upadhyay. A.
Fisheries College and Research Institute, (Tamil Nadu Fisheries University), Thoothukudi-628 008, Tamil Nadu, India.