Emergence of triggerfishes (Family: Balistidae) as an alternate lucrative target fishery for trawls along the Tuticorin coast in Gulf of Mannar

摘要

Fishes of the family Balistidae are commonlyudknown as trigger fishes. Globally the family isudrepresented by about 40 species belonging toud11 genera. The name triggerfish arose as the seconduddorsal spine act as a trigger to the first dorsal fin.udLocally they are known as ‘Kilathi’ in Tamil. Thoughudthey used to occur in trawl catch of Tuticorin coastudfrom time immemorial, they were thrown back intoudthe sea by fishermen mainly due to lack of marketuddemand and also for want of onboard storage space.udTrawlers used to avoid areas of their congregation asudthey considered it a menace leading to wastage ofudenergy and time.