High catch of rock lobster Panulirus polyphagus landed at New Ferry Wharf, Mumbai

Commercial lobster fishery in Mumbai issupported mainly by rock lobster, Panulirus polyphagus. It is caught throughout the year, but the fishery displays seasonal abundance during September-December. During September'06 an unprecedented high catch (Fig. 1) of rock lobster was landed by trawlers at New Ferry Wharf. On 2-9-06,ninety-three trawlers landed about 8.8 t of rock lobster with an average catch of 95 kg per trawler. The fishing ground was towards north west at a depth of 40-50 m and the fishing continued for 8-10 days. The other major catch on that day was ribbon fish (65.1 t) and sciaenids (55.8 t) but the prawn catch was extremely poor. The total income generated by lobsters alone was Rs. 50 lakhs, which was about 50% of the total income generated from the entire fish catch.