Deep Sea Fisheries of India

DEEP SEA FISHERIES OF
INDIA
PRESENTATION ON
PRESENtedby:
Swati

Introduction
Deep-sea fisheries are those operations taking place between
12 nautical miles and the outer boundary of the EEZ, falling
under the jurisdiction of the Union Government. (fao)
With absolute rights on the EEZ, India has also acquired the
responsibility to conserve, develop and optimally exploit the
marine resources up to 200 nautical miles off our coastline.
Fisheries carried out in waters deeper than about 400 m are
generally considered to be deep sea fisheries.

Indian marine fish harvest mostly centers around coastal
waters up to 100 meters depth and about 90 per cent of the
catch comes from up to 50 m.
For exploitation of under exploited resources beyond the
territorial zone, the Govt. of India has allowed private Indian
entrepreneurs to import resources specific deep sea fishing
vessels from abroad either by out right purchase or through
deferred payment or joint venture agreement.
These vessel owners are issued LOP to fish in Indian EEZ in
accordance with the deep sea fishing guidelines issued in
2002 and its subsequent modification in 2004 and 2006.

History of Deep sea fishing in India
• The history of deep sea fishing in India dates back to the early
seventies when two Mexican trawlers imported from the USA
were introduced to operate in Indian waters.
• By 1982, there were 110 chartered and joint venture deep-
sea fishing trawlers based at different fishing harbours
operating all along the Indian coast.
• Unfortunately, most of these Taiwanese vessels rarely fished
beyond 50 m depth and thus exploited huge quantities of
inshore demersal fishes.

Contd.
• These vesels retained and marketed only high value fishes
(prawns, pomfrets and seerfishes) in Singapore and discarded
huge quantities of fish and shellfish.
• In 1983, the Government of India enforced the depth limitation
of 80 m and all the chartered vessels left the country and the
foreign vessel chartering programme was terminated.
• In the mid-1980s, the Government of India prepared several
schemes and projects to diversify and strengthen the deep-sea
fishing industry and large industrial houses.
• Multinational companies were permitted to undertake deep-
sea fishing through joint venture arrangements in the early
1990s.

Laws and Policies related to Deep sea
• The Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic
Zones and Maritime Zones Act, 1976-The Act categorically
prescribes the limits of the territorial waters, continental
shelf, EEZ and other maritime zones of India.
• The Maritime Zones of India (Regulation of Fishing by Foreign
Vessels) Act, 1981- The MZI Act was enacted to curb poaching
activities by foreign fishing vessels in the Indian EEZ.

• New Deep sea Fishing Policy,1991- The policy involved three
schemes:
(i) Leasing out of foreign fishing vessels to operate in Indian
EEZ
(ii) Engaging foreign fishing vessels for test fishing and
(iii) Forming joint ventures between foreign companies and
Indian companies on 49:51 equity basis in deep sea fishing,
processing and marketing.
• Murari Committee,1995- Comprised 41 members including
bureaucrats, experts, activists and representatives from
fishing communities.

Deep-sea fisheries resources of India
1. Oceanic Tuna
• Important oceanic fishery resource of our country.
• Includes several species-
- Thunnus albacares
- T. Obesus
- Katsuwonus pelamis
- T. tonggol

Source: N.G.K. Pillai and U. Ganga; Central
Marine Fisheries Research Institute

(i) Thunnus tonggol (Longtail tuna)
• Body fusiform and rounded, completely covered with very small
scales.
• A comparatively long caudal region.
• Upper part of body bluish black and lower part of belly with
pale streaks or spots, oriented horizontally.
• Common size in commercial catches is 40-70 cm.

(ii)Thunnus albacares (Yellowfin tuna)
• Body elongate and fusiform, metallic blue or blue black above
and belly with about 20 broken nearly vertical pale lines.
• Common size in commercial catches 70-150 cm.
• Large specimens(> 100 cm) are caught in deep longlines
operating in oceanic waters and also by the troll line fishery in
Lakshadweep seas.

(iii)Thunnus obesus (Bigeye tuna)
• Upper part of the body is black to greenish blue while side and
belly are silvery white.
• Caudal portion is short while eyes and head are fairly large.
• Caught mainly by longlines with peak catches during October to
May.
• Common size groups represented commercial catches is 60-180
cm.

(iv) Katsuwonus pelamis (Skipjack tuna)
• Backside metallic blue tinged with violet and three to five
conspicuous longitudinal, dusky to black striped below lateral
line on each side of the body.
• Lateral line with downward curve below second dorsal.
• A major fishery by pole and line in Minicoy Islands with peak
fishing during December-April period.
• Common size in commercial catches is 40-60 cm.

Reproductive Biology
• Dioecious and there appears to be no sexual dimorphism in
external morphological characters.
• Hermaphroditism reported for Katsuwonus pelamis (oviparous
with asynchronous oocyte development, batch spawners)
• Spawning temperature- 24°C or higher
• Spawning activity- Throughout the year in tropical tunas

Food and Feeding
Species Food and Feeding
1. Thunnus tonggol Feed on fishes such as Stolephorus spp.,
Rastrelliger kanagurta, Platycephalus sp.,
Trichiurus lepturus, Sardinella sp., Auxis
thazard, Megalaspis cordyla, sciaenids and
clupeids;crustaceans such as Solenocera sp.,
Squilla sp.,deep sea shrimps and other shrimps
and cephalopods such as Squid, cuttlefish and
octopus.
2. Thunnus albacares Majority of its food consists of octopus,
dolphin, squid, lobster, and other tuna. They
also eat anchovies, pilchards, and pelagic
crabs. According to the National Aquatic
Resources Research and Development Agency,
a particular species of pelagic crab, C. smithii,
is the most successful form of bait for Yellowfin
Tuna.

3. Thunnus obesus Bigeye tuna that feed near the surface
prefer squid and crustaceans, while those
in deeper waters consume cephalopods
and mesopelagic species of fish.
4. Katsuwomus pelamis They eat a variety of prey, including small
fishes, squids, pelagic crustaceans, and
other small invertebrates.

Fig. Species composition of Tuna landings
Source: N.G.K. Pillai
and U. Ganga; Central
Marine Fisheries
Research Institute

Source: N.G.K. Pillai and U.
Ganga; Central Marine
Fisheries Research
Institute Fig. Average gear wise contribution of Tuna landings

Production
• The fishery resource potential of
oceanic tuna in the Indian EEZ is
213,000 tons.
• Landings of oceanic tuna in India
have been negligible.
• Marine Products Exports and
Development Authority (MPEDA)
has started implementing a
scheme for assisting the conversion
of existing fishing vessels to tuna
long liners for augmenting
production of oceanic tuna since
2006.
Yellowfin
tuna
54%
Skipjack
tuna
40%
Bigeye
tuna
6%
Fig. Estimated composition of
oceanic Tuna landings in India
Estimated landings in 2016
Katsuwonus pelamis -16232 tonnes
Thunnus tonggol -8090 tonnes
Thunnus albacares -16792 tonnes

• Other finfishes belonging to diverse families, viz. Cubiceps
spp.(Nomeidae), Neopinnula spp. and Rexea spp. (Berycidae),
Chlorophthalmus spp. (Chlorophthalmidae), Psenopsis cyanea
(Stromateidae), occur mainly as by-catch in the deep sea
trawl fisheries.

2. Oceanic sharks
• Includes:
(i) Oil sharks (Centrophorus spp.) or mullan
(ii) Chimaeras (Neoharriotta pinnata)
(iii) Thresher sharks (Alopias spp.)
(iv) Bramble shark(Echinorhinus brucus)
Oil sharks
Chimaera
Bramble shark
Thresher shark

Biology
• Long, wing-like pectoral and dorsal fins
• Feeds mainly on pelagic cephalopods and bony fish.
• Mating season is in early summer in the northwest Atlantic
Ocean and southwest Indian Ocean
• Viviparous
• Gestation period- 1 year

Exploitation
• Vivekanandan (2001) listed seven groups of fishers who exploit
sharks along the Indian coast –
i. Traditional catamaran fishers of Kanyakumari who conduct
seasonal shark fishing along the east coast
ii. Motorised canoe (nava) operating fishers of Kakinada who use
bottom set gill nets and hooks & lines
iii. Motorised wooden and FRP catamaran fishers of Andhra Pradesh
who conduct seasonal shark fishing between Visakhapatnam and
Puri
iv. Traditional long-line fishers of north Kerala
v. Trawl operators who bring in sharks as by-catch
vi. Fishermen of Thoothoor in Tamil Nadu who operate a specialised
shark fishing mechanised fleet all along the Indian coast
vii. Fishermen of Gujarat who employ gill nets, hooks & lines and
trawls for shark fishing.

Production
• The production of elasmobranchs in
India in 2016 was to the tune of about
52,840.8 t, increasing marginally by
about 406 t from the previous year,
and forming 1.41% of the total marine
fish landings.
• Sharks formed 45% of the total
elasmobranch landings, guitarfishes-
3.8% and rays- 51.2%.
• The motorized sector contributed
maximum to the elasmobranch
landings, followed by the mechanised
and the non-motorised sectors.

3. Deep sea shellfish
• Includes
-Heterocarpus woodmasoni
-H. gibbosus
-Plesionika spinipes
-Aristeus alcocki
-Metapenaeopsis andamanensis
-Solenocera hextii
-Penaeopsis jerryi.
• Deep sea lobster fishery is supported by a single species
Puerulus sewelli.

Metapenaeopsis andamanensis Solenocera hextiiPenaeopsis jeryii
Heterocarpus woodmasoni H. gibbosus Aristeus alcocki
Puerulus sewelli

(i) Aristeus alcocki (Red ring)
• Family- Aristeidae
• Diagnostic characters: Large size red abdominal rings. lacks
hepatic spine, upper antennular flagellum very short, eyestalk
with a tubercle
• Distribution: Indian Ocean; Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, at
depth of 350-450 m off Quillon and Alleppey.
• Fishery & Biology:
The catches were mainly composed of females and their size
ranged from 78 mm to 188 mm in total length.
The males, which were very poorly represented in the
catches were relatively smaller in size and their total length
varied from 67 mm to 110 mm.

(ii) Solenocera hextii (Deep sea mud shrimp)
• Family : Solenoceridae
• Diagnostic characters: Flattened rostrum with 7 teeth on dorsal
side and no teeth on ventral side of the rostrum. The
characteristic ‘L’ shaped groove on either side of the
branchiostegal region is also clearly defined.
• Distribution: Found all along the east and west coast of India at
depths between 250 to 547 m.
Mostly gonochoric
Spawns from November to April, with peak from January to
February

(iii) Metapenaeopsis andamanensis (Rice velvet shrimp)
• Family: Penaeidae
• Diagnostic characters: Rostrum more or less horizontal and
straight with 6 to 7 teeth on dorsal side and no teeth on the
ventral side. Asymetrical petasma.
• Distribution: Commonly encountered in the trawl catches at all
depths ranges upto 400 m.
• Fishery & Biology: The total length of males varied from 67 mm
to 115 mm and that of females from 68 mm to 130 mm.

(iv) Penaeopsis jeryii (Dagger shrimp)
• Family: Penaeidae
• Diagnostic characters: Dagger shaped rostrum with teeth on
dorsal side of the rostrum. Thelycum trilobed and sub elliptical
in structure.
• Distribution: All along the southwest coast of India particularly
off Cochin, Quilon and Alleppey at depth of 275-350 m.
Size range of female specimens ranged from 74-115 mm and
males ranged from 70-110 mm.

(v) Heterocarpus woodmasoni (Indian Nylon Shrimp)
• Family : Pandalidae
• Diagnostic characters: A conspicuous elevated, sharp tooth at
middle of dorsal crest of 3rd abdominal segment, telson
bears 5 pairs of dorsolateral spinules besides those at the tip.
• Distribution: Andamans, Southwest of India off Cochin and
Alleppey at depths of 250-400 m.
• Fishery & biology:
Size in the catches ranged from 72 to 135 mm in total length
but dominated by 111-120 mm size groups in both the sexes.
The fertilized eggs on the pleopods and the head-roe are light
orange and this colour stands out in contrast with the pink
colour of the prawn.

(vi) Heterocarpus gibbosus (Humpback nylon shrimp)
• Diagnostic characters: The teeth on the dorsal crest and the
rostrum together vary from 8 to 10. Teeth on the rostrum
proper varying from 2 to 4 and 13-15 on ventral side.
• Distribution: Southeast and Southwest coast off Cochin, off
Alleppey at depths of 250-400 m.
• Fishery & biology:
The size of the individual prawn varied from 67 to 140 mm in
total length and the catches were represented by all groups of
the females.
Males are mostly in 90-100 mm size groups.
The colour of the berry is light orange and turns dirty grey as
embryo develops.

• Exploitation:
Craft- Trawler
Gear- Trawl net

Production
• The exploited deep sea shrimp catch during the period of
2009-10 was estimated at 7,880 t .
• The fishing season for deep sea shrimps was observed to
extend from September to May and the peak season was
from October to December.
• Highest landings of deep sea shrimps (1,420 t) was observed
during the month of October, with a catch rate of 41.67 kg h-1
and the lowest landings was recorded during the month of
March.

Puerulus sewelli (Deep sea lobster)
• Diagnostic characters: Body tubular; carapace without a rostrum;
legs without true pincers; antennae enlarged, cylindrical, longer
than body
• Distribution- Along the west coast between 70 N to180 N at 150-
400 m depth.
• Fishery and Biology: Heterosexual and sexually dimorphic.
Breeding season- Two peaks, the major one during January-April,
and the other in October
• Food and Feeding:
Carnivorous feeder.
Food mainly consists of Crustaceans (mostly deep-sea prawns),
fishes and molluscs.
• Exploitation: Deep-sea fish trawl(cod-end mesh size of either 35
mm or 60 mm)

Conclusion
• India is presently harvesting about 12 % of the potential and
the balance can be optimally harvested using a judicious mix
of technology, infrastructure and human resource
development.
• As the coastal fishery faces issues like sustainability, resources
conservation and management; there is an imperative need
for finding an alternative resource for the nutritional security.
• Exploitation of under exploited non-conventional resources
from the distant waters of the Indian EEZ will be the only
solution.
• There is ample scope of increasing production by venturing
into deeper waters of the EEZ, which holds a potential of 1.7
million tonnes of underexploited and unexploited fin fishes
and shellfishes.

Reference:
• CMFRI Annual report 2016-17
• Training Manual on Species Identification, CMFRI
• N.G.K. Pillai and U. Ganga, Central Marine Fisheries Research
Institute
• Guidance on National Plan of Action for Sharks in India,
Shoba Joe Kizhakudan, P.U. Zacharia, Sujitha Thomas E.
Vivekanandan and Muktha Menon, Central Marine Fisheries
Research Institute
• Handbook of Fisheries and Aquaculture

Deep Sea Fisheries of India

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Deep Sea Fisheries of India

Similar to Deep Sea Fisheries of India (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Deep Sea Fisheries of India