Observations on the Indian mackerel Rastrelliger canagurta (Cuvier) from the trawl catches along the Bombay coast.

Referring to the distribution of the Indian mackerel, Panikkar and Jayaraman (1956) mention that there is distinct and unmistakable gap in the distribution of the major fisheries to the north of Ratnagiri and that north of this place shoals of mackerel are not known, but the species is widely distributed having been found in the Persian Gulf and the Bay of Bengal and stray specimens have also been taken in the trawls operated off Kathiawar. That the mackerel met with in the offshore catches are of importance is known from the statement that a full picture of the distribution will depend on the location of the spawning grounds and the discovery whether there is any deep sea mackerel existing in offshore regions of the coast (Panikkar, 1949). Mackerel in small numbers have been recorded on many occasions from the catches of the trawlers fishing along the Bombay coast. In one instance dense shoal of mackerel was also encountered while the vessel M.F.V. 'Jheenga' was trawling about 32 kilometres off Bombay at depth of 35 metres, when about half ton of mackerel was caught in single haul. An attempt is made here to summarise the observations made on the catches of mackerel from trawlers working along the Bombay coast. The common occurrence of mackerel, though usually in small numbers, in the trawl catches prompts one to infer that the fish may at least occasionally move to the deeper waters.