Fishery and some biological aspects of penaeid shrimps along Saurashtra region

The paper deals with penaeid shrimp fishery off Veraval during 1996-1999. The study coincided with the period of maximum trawl fishing effort and landings of penaeid shrimps. Penaeid shrimp fishery at this centre is constituted by 20 species out of which 10 supported \nregular fishery. Parapenaeopsis stylifera and Solenocera crassicornis were the major species contributing to the bulk of the fishery. The relationship between peak penaeid shrimp fishing season and prevailing hydrographic features of the coast during the period of observation is discussed. The size and sex composition, mean size and spawning season of six commercially important varieties are dealt in detail. Though an overall preponderance of female was noticed in all species, the males outnumbered females among smaller groups. For most of the species, the mean sues of females were higher than that of the estimated size at maturity, indicating that they were getting a chance to breed at least once before their capture. There was no \ninverse relationship between the quantity caught and the mean size of the shrimps, except for P. stylifera and Metapenaeus monoceros, indicating that in most of the species, the increase in catch as a result of enhanced fishing pressure was not constituted by the addition of the \nsmaller shrimps or immature ones. All species showed extended spawning season with two peaks.