GIS BASED MAPPING OF COMMON DOLPHINFISH CORYPHAENA HIPPURUS (LINNAEUS, 1758) OFF SAURASHTRA COAST, INDIA

摘要

The GIS based studies will give a clear picture of the spatio-temporal distribution of fishes in the selected study area and help in identification of critical fishing grounds and represents fundamental information for stock assessment in terms of fishery and marine biodiversity. This study investigated the spatio-temporal distribution and abundance of different life stages of common dolphinfish, Coryphaena hippurus (Linnaeus, 1758) off Sau rash tra coast Geographical coordinates of fishing and allied information on the time of fishing, depth of the fishing area as well as catch details were collected using a structured schedule, from selected gillnetters operated from Veraval. Information was mapped using a GIS software to get the spatio-temporal distribution of the species. It was observed that the grounds of small sized and medium sized C. hippuruswere in the waters off the south-west Sau rashtra and north-west Saurashtra coast whereas that of large sized individuals was along the west Saurashtra coast The favourable fishing grounds were in the deeper waters (> 200 m) along the south-west Saurashtra and northern Saurashtra coast.