Overview of Tuna Purse Seine Fisheries by M.V.SEAFDEC in the Eastern Indian Ocean

Abstract

Tuna purse seine surveys in the Eastern Indian Ocean have been conducted by MV SEAFDEC of the Training Department of SEAFDEC since 1993. There were 87 fishing operations. The total catches was 1,945.55 tons with average catch 6.53 tons/ fishing days. Catch composition was consisted of skipjack tuna, the most dominant specie caught at 65.56 %, followed by yellowfin tuna at 20.26%, bigeye tuna at 12.82% and other species at 1.36% respectively. The size range of skipjack tuna, yellowfin tuna and bigeye tuna were within range between 31-80, 20-136, 31-122 cm FL. The relative length-weight was determined using allometric equation for skipjack tuna (W=0.000006L^3.3067), yellowfin tuna (W=0.00003L^2.9175) and bigeye tuna (W=0.00001L^3.1699)