Recreational fishing by angling is practised worldwide which is gaining importance in India as well. Circle hooks are getting more popular as it shows less injury with enhanced post-release survival, which promote catch and release as well as conservation. In the present study, circle and ‘J’ hooks were compared for hooking pattern, extent of injury and post-release survival in Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia (GIFT) in recreational fishing. Results depicted that overall hooking rate was lower for circle hooks (29%) than ‘J’ hooks (31%). Occurrence of lip hooking was more with circle hooks (73.6%) than ‘J’ hooks (58.8%), whereas jaw hooking was comparatively low in case of circle hooks than ‘J’ hooks. Circle hooks showed no throat hooking whereas ‘J’ hooks recorded 5.88% for the same. Foul hooking was not observed in case of both hook types. In the present study, with ‘J’ hooks, 52.9% of fishes showed no bleeding, slight and moderate bleeding was found in 17.6% fishes, whereas 11.7% had severe bleeding. For circle hooks, the corresponding values were 73.6, 21.05, 5.26 and 0%. There was 100% survival for the fishes upto 72 h post-release in both cases.

Length–weight relationships (LWRs) were estimated for five deep sea fishes viz. Astronesthes martensii, Glyptophidium macropus, Neobythites multistriatus, Physiculus roseus, Synagrops japonicus from Kerala, south west coast of India. Fishes were collected from commercial trawlers monthly from February 2018 to March 2019 operating at depth ranged from 270 m (Lat. 9°29.35′ N, Long. 75°44.74′ E) to 350 m (Lat. 9°26. 49′ N, Long. 75°42.36′ E) in the south east Arabian Sea. Correlation coefficients (r2) were found high for all species, with b value ranged from 2.923 to 3.404.

No abstract

Experimental gillnet (polyamide, 210 d×9×3 with 140 mm mesh size) fishing was conducted onboard FV Sagar Harita (LOA19.5 m) during September, 2016. Out of six sets deployed, three incidents of depredation, possibly by puffer fish were observed, when 41.5, 33.7 and 40% of the catch was lost. Depredation could be prevented effectively by frequent monitoring of the deployed gillnets at shorter intervals. Studies on depredation with special reference to soaking time, hauling speed, seasonal variation and location of fishing grounds are needed in view of the economic losses incurred.