Stock status of giant catfish Netuma thalassina (Rüppell, 1837) from Tamil Nadu, India waters

Abstract

Information on the stock status of giant catfish Netuma thalassina (Rüppell, 1837) is meagre due to lack of catch and effort data. Therefore, we reconstructed catch and effort data of the giant catfish fishery in Tamil Nadu, India waters from 2001 to 2020. Catch and effort data were analyzed with Catch and Effort Data Analysis (CEDA), Catch Maximum Sustainable Yield (CMSY) and the Bayesian state‐space implementation of the Schaefer production Model (BSM). Results indicated that giant catfish resources were fully exploited and reached the stage of overexploitation in 2014. Considering the high vulnerability to climate change, very high susceptibility to fishing, increased fishing effort and fully exploited status of giant catfish fishery, we propose a significant reduction of fishing effort to ensure sustainable exploitation.