On the fishery of the white prawn Penaeus indicus from the trawling grounds off Tuticorin

The White prawn Penaeus indicus is one of the most widely distributed species of marine prawns supporting an active commercial fishery in various countries bordering the Indian Ocean. In India, this species supports the fishery significantly along the east coast from Tuticorin to Chilka lake. Along Tuticorin coast this species is exploited mainly by two types of gear viz. trawl net and gill-net. The present investigation shows that the fishery of P.indicus at Tuticorln is only moderate with an average annual composition of 8.0%. It has been proved earlier by the tagging experiments conducted by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute that P.indicus migrates from the west coast to the east coast during the southwest monsoon. Thus, the present investigation reveals that the trawl fishery of P.indicus along the Tuticorin coast is sustained mainly by the stock migrating from the southwest coast during the southwest monsoon and the native population of the resource contributing to a minor fishery during the rest of the months.