Status of longtail tuna, Thunnus tonggol fishery along the Northwest coast of India

Longtail tuna, Thunnus tonggol, is a neritic species with continuous \ndistribution along the continent of Asia from Iran to mainland China (Yesaki, \n1993). The average landings during the 1995-2002 period along the Indian coast \nwas about 5970 t of which 78% was contributed from the North-west region. \nAlthough the species has so far been reported to be exploited marginally only, \nsince 1998 there has been a perceptible intensification of fishing activities mainly \ndue to technological advancements all along the Indian coast and especially so \nalong the North-west coast (Anon., 1996). Catches of T. tonggol which has \nshown an increasing trend along the North-west coast since the early 90s peaked \nduring 2000 and subsequently showed a sudden decline with catches as low as \nwhen the fishery was just developing during 1990-92 period.