The ribbon-fish resources of India

Ribbon-fishes constitute one of the important commercial fisheries of India, the annual catches fluctuating \nabout 29,000 m. tons and forming 3 80% of the total marine fish landings (average for 1958-67). They \nare caught almost all along the Indian coast and form an exclusive fishery of considerable magnitude at a \nnumber of places, especially in the southern peninsular region. The States of Andhra Pradesh, Madras and \nKerala account for the greater percentage of annual catches. A limited fishery exists in Hooghly-Matlah \nestuaries. \nThough the catches are constituted by more than one species at several places, it is certain, that the \nbulk of the catches are contributed to by Trichiurus lepturus which moves in great shoals and appears to \nmigrate from east to west around Cape during August to October when it is caught in large quantities. On \nsuch occasions, the fishery is supported by spent fishes, about 50 to 75 cm, which could be caught to any extent \npossible without being detrimental to future stocks as such fish would have spawned at least once. The \nother three species, Lepturacanlhus savala, Eupleurogrammus muticus and E. intermedius, though comparatively \nnot very important, yet form the fishery singly or cojointly at some places. \nThe usual gear for these fishes are the shore seines and the boat seines. Catches could be substantially \nimproved in the southern region between Idinthakarai and Vizhingam if the information of appearance of \nshoals between August and October is promptly passed on to the fishing centres in between and they arc \neffectively fished at this time.