Fisheries Resources in Trat Province, Thailand “Strategies for Trawl Fisheries Bycatch Management”

Abstract

This study of fisheries resources in the locality of Trat Province was conducted by collecting the data from commercial fishing boatlandings at fishing ports in the Province during January to December 2014. The results found that the CPUE of Thai purse seine, (TPS), Light luring purse seine, (LPS), Anchovy purse seine, (APS) andAnchovy falling net, (AFN) were 3,824.912, 5,858.824, 2,949.048 and 684.752 kg/day respectively. Short mackerel and goldstripe sardinella formed the highest composition of the catch from TPS and LPS respectively, while anchovies were the main component of APS and AFN. The CPUE of otter board trawl (OBT) was calculated as 23.726 kg/hour comprising of 15.131of food fish, (63.77% of the total catch), and 8.595 kg trash fish, (36.23% of the total catch). Threadfin bream was the major species making up 7.95% of the total food fish weight. In the trash fish group, juveniles of economic fish accounted for 40.41% of the catch, whereas the remaining 59.59% was made up of true trash fish. Ponyfishes made up the highest composition, (46.17%), of the trash fish catch. Size measurements of 13 economically important species found that the mean length of three pelagic species were larger than the predicted size at first maturity while the other ten species were smaller than size at first maturity. There is some evidence to suggest that effective management measures are urgently needed to prevent recruitment overfishing which may leadto a further decline of fisheries resources. The prohibition of high efficiency fishing gear in some seasons and areas is a potential measure to conserve fisheries resources and sustainable use for the future.