BAIT-FISH AND TUNA CATCHES AT MINICOY ISLAND (LAKSHADWEEP) IN RELATION TO LUNAR CYCLE DURING 1983-84 SEASON

The catches of bait-fish and tuna in relation to moon phases during 1983-84 pole-and-line tuna-fishing season is discussed. Bait-fish and tuna catches for the season as a whole were relatively high during new-moon phase and low 'during the last quarter of the moon. Tuna catches per kg of bait fish were high during the last quarter of moon and low during newmoon phase. Efforts in both bait fishing and tuna fishing and catehes-per-unit-of-effort of bait fishes and tuna were highest during newmoon phase, then decreased gradually and was lowest in the last quarters. Bait-fish catches at Minicoy have shown fluctation from year to year, creating problems to fishermen of the Island, because bait fish is very essential for successful pole-and-line operations. The fishermen at Minicoy believe that some important bait fishes appear in the lagoon only during certain moon phase. This study was undertaken during the 1983-84 tuna-fishing season to see whether moon phases really played important role in the availability of bait fishes as well as in the tuna catches at Minicoy. Data on daily bait-fish catches and the quantity of tunas caught were collected, the former by observing the bait wells or by enquiry from fishermen