Drift gill net fishery for large pelagics at Cochin - A case study on by-catch of pelagic sharks

Abstract

In India, the elasmobranchs contributed on an average 60,8(X) t during 1986 to 1999 forming 2.7% of the total marine fish landings. The production varied from 50,000t in 1990 to a highest of 75,(X)0 t in 1998. The sharks dominated forming 62.4%, followed by rays (33.5%) and skates the rest. The west coast accounted for 55.5% and east coast 44.5%. The highest contribution of 30.2% was from Gujarat followed by Tamilnadu (26.2%). The drift gillnets, sharing 48.5% of the production, was the major gear, followed by trawls (31.5%) and hooks and line (6.1%). Since the drift gillnets (DGN), apart from the scombroids, exploit a variety of larger pelagics, a case study of the shark fishery by the gear at Kochi was made based on the data from 1979 to 1999 and the results are presented here