Characteristics of purse seine fisheries in the Sulawesi Sea (case study in Tumumpa fishing port)

Abstract The purse seine is the dominant fishing gear operating at the Tumumpa Fishing Port with a vessel of >90%. The purse seines that have developed are large pelagic targets, with the main catch targets being skipjack, mackerel tuna, and tuna. Tuna, mackerel tuna and skipjack are important commodities for fisheries in Indonesia. This study aims to determine the characteristics of purse seine fishing gear and its catch in the Sulawesi Sea. Data collection was carried out for two years from 2019-2020 at Tumumpa Fishery Port. Indications for the use of fish resources are calculated by comparing the length-at-first-capture (Lc) with the length-at-first-mature (Lm). The results showed that purse seines are very dominant in exploiting large pelagic resources (skipjack, mackerel tuna and tuna) with the proportion reaching 78%, small pelagic (21% scads and 1% other fish). The large pelagic fishing season using the purse seine vessel occurs in May – November, with 2 peak seasons in July and September. While the small pelagic occurs in May – September, with the peak occurring in July. The size when the frigate tuna was first caught was at a fork length of 25.15 cm (Lc) and Lm in a size of 28.52 cm for females and 28.29 cm for males. Meanwhile, the first scads was caught (Lc) at a length of 21.4 cm with the length-at-first-mature (Lm) being 20 cm for the female and 19 cm for the male. Based on this analysis, it was shown that the purse seines is a selective fishing gear for small pelagic fish but not selective for large pelagic fish.