Report on the largest sized Indian mackerel on record

Mahesh, V and Ramudu, Kurva Raghu and Hussain, Tanveer and Dube, Praveen and Selvakumar, N and Durgeka, Nagaraj M (2024) Report on the largest sized Indian mackerel on record. Marine Fisheries Information Service; Technical and Extension Series (259). p. 42.

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Abstract

The Indian Mackerel, Rastrelliger kanagurta, is a prominent pelagic species with a geographical distribution spanning the entire Indian coast, and caught in diverse fishing gears. The size range caught by the commercial fishery operations typically ranges from 14 to 30 cm. Exceptionally larger sized mackerels have been documented during the routine surveillance of fisheries resources as sourced from reports in eprints@cmfri.org.in (Dhulkhed & Annigeri, 1983; Kakati & Gowda, 1999). On 28th August 2023, a remarkably large sized Indian mackerel was captured in the large meshed gillnet (known as “Beedu bale”) operated from an outboard motorised (OBM) fiber boat, at a depth of 45 meters off the coast of Karwar, Karnataka by Shri. Anandu Rama Harikantra. The gear mainly targets capture of the seer fishes (Scomberomorus spp.) in the vicinity of the Karwar coast. The mackerel, upon capture, measured an impressive 48 cm in Total Length (TL) and weighed 1.23 kg. Through canulation procedure it was determined as female in spent stage of gonad development. The present specimen thus appears to be the largest mackerel ever captured from Indian waters. Following freezing and a week of preservation in 5% formalin, the specimen’s total length reduced to 45 cm and is preserved in the museum at the Karwar Regional Station of the ICAR-CMFRI.

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