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Ribbon fishes or hair tails of the family. Trichiuridae represented in the Indian waters by Trichiurus lepturus (Linn) Lepturacanthus salvala (Cuv), Eupleurogrammus intermedius (Grey), E. m utieus (Grey) are important, low priced food fishes landed in quantities at all the fishing centres on the east and west coasts, but in particular abundance in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra. Distribution The ribbonfishes have a wide range of distribution throughout the warm seas. Besides being landed at several places along the east and west coasts of peninsular India. Trichiurus lepturus has been known to be the most common species occurring in Indian Ocean around the Archipelago and various parts of Pacific. In the Indian waters the species shoal separately at different places. On the East Coast T.lepturus predominates in the catches at Tamil Nadu and in North Andhra i.e., in the fishing centres north of Visakhapatnam. L. savala had been reported to be more common on the coast of central Andhra near Gulf and Manner and Palk bay in addition to T.lepturus and L.savala, other species are also quite common. In the southern part of the west coast consisting of Travancore, Cochin and Malabar and in the northern part comprising of Konkan, Bombay and Ratnagiri coasts T. lepturus and L. savala respectively common species caught. Landings The catches have been found to very widely from year to year. In the five-year period between 1961-65, the lowest catch was 16452 tonnes in 1965 forming 5.03% of the marine fish landing of the country. Nearly 50% of the all India ribbonfish catch is contributed by the Tamil Nadu State alone. During 1989 the catch of this species was 71878 tonnes. The commercial catches have individuals usually in the size range from 16-18 cm. Individuals of over one metre in length are not uncommon. The dominant group differs from place to place, but in general all the age group are met with. The commercial size of E.intermedius is from 14-35 cm. and of L.savala and E. muticus from 25-75cm. The later two species are comparatively greater in abundance in the northern latitudes. Fishery Each shoal consists of one species only. They are caught in various types of fishing fear, but chiefly in seines and to some extent in gill nets and other trawls and sometimes in hook and hook and lines. In Gujarat and Maharashtra landings are the highest in the fourth quarter and lowest in 3rd quarter. In Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra, they are highest in 3rd quarter and lowest in the first quarter. The fish is marketed in fresh or in cured condition. |
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