Trawl Fishery of Juvenile Fishes along Mangalore- Malpe Coast of Karnataka and its Impact on Fish Stock

The article presents the quantitative and seasonal variation in percentage of juveniles in the commercial trawl fishery of Mangalore and Malpe in 2006 and discusses the possible impacts of juvenile fish fishery on fish stock in terms of quantity and value. Twenty finfishes and five shellfishes were identified in which considerable quantity of juveniles were caught, and the juvenile fishery is making notable impact on adult fishery. To understand the impact of the fishery of juveniles in a holistic manner, the species of juveniles caught by trawlers are categorized into three groups: I) both juveniles and adults are caught mainly by trawls II) juveniles of the species are caught in trawl, whereas their adults are targeted by gears other than trawl and III) juveniles of the species are caught by trawls regularly, but their adults are rarely caught or not figured in the fishery of the region. Detailed studies on the length-frequency distribution of important species were carried out to find juvenile percentage by weight, number, and months of abundance of juveniles.