Coastal Aquaculture and Mariculture

Unit 5 - Major groups of Fisheries in India

5.1.7. Seerfish
Seerfishes or Spanish-mackerels (Family: Scombridae) are one of the commercially important marine shoaling pelagic finfish resources of India of high commercial value. Some of the species grow to very large size. The fishery is sustained by four species such as the king seer (Scomberomorus commerson), the spotted seer (S. guttatus), the streaked seer (S. lineolatus) and the wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri). Of these, the first two species are more common than the last two species. They usually hunt solitary and swim in shallow water along coastal slopes. They are known to undertake lengthy long shore migrations, but permanent resident populations also seem to exist.
Distribution
Global
It is distributed in Red sea, east coast of Africa, India, Srilanka, Burma, Malaya to Australia, Fiji and Western Pacific Ocean along Sunda archipelago, Thailand, Phillippines, Taiwan and Japan.
India
It is distributed along the east and west coasts and in the Andaman and Laccadive islands. King seer is dominant along the mid-eastern (Orissa, Andhra Pradesh), southeastern (Tamil Nadu), south-western (Kerala) and mid-western (Karnataka, Goa) coasts. The spotted seer is dominant along north-east coast (West Bengal) and northwest coast (Maharashtra, Gujarat).
Production trend
The potential of seer fish resources has been estimated as 50,000 tonnes. The average annual catch was 14,954 t during 1990-99. Along the east coast, Tamil Nadu stood first in production, contributing 38%, followed by Andhra Pradesh (35%), Orissa (16%), West Bengal (6%), Andamans (4%) and Pondicherry (1%). Along the west coast, Gujarat contributed 40%, followed by Maharashtra (25%), Kerala (20%), Karnataka (7%), Goa (6%) and Lakshadweep (0.3%). King seer contributed 62.8% and spotted seer, 36.6% during 1995-1999. In 2000, production was 50,376 t, which formed just 1.85% of the total marine fish production.
Recent production

(Source: CMFRI, Annual Reports)

Species composition

(Source: CMFRI, Annual Reports)

Size composition
Mean size of king seer was 40.6 cm. and 39 cm for spotted seer during 1996-2000.
Fishing season
Fishing season is influenced by the monsoons along both the coasts. Along the west coast, the season is from October to May with a peak during November -December. In Tamil Nadu, the season is from March -October while it is February to May in Andhra Pradesh.
Mode of exploitation
Gill net (major gear); trawls, boat seines, shore seines and purse seines are the gears commonly used for catching seer fish. Owing to their high unit value and economic returns, they support artisanal fisheries and are a major source of income for gill net and hook and line fishermen of the country. In recent years, they are also caught in appreciable quantities by trawl from the deeper waters, enhancing the financial returns to the boat owners.
Food and feeding
They are carnivorus and predominantly piscivorus. They occasionally feed on prawns, squids and cuttlefishes. The piscivorus tendency is more pronounced in larger fishes. They prefer sardines and whitebaits. Juveniles prefer
Minimum size at first maturity
The minimum size at first maturity in S. guttatus is 480-520 mm. S. commerson, S.guttatus and S. lineolatus mature at 750 mm, 405 and 700 mrn in length respectively.
Fecundity
S. commerson: 0.70 -3.5 million /2- 5 years
S. gutlatus: 0.56 -2.1 million /2 -4 years
S. lineolatus: 0.39 -1.1 million /2 -4 years
Spawning season:
All the three species, the king seer, streaked seer and spotted seer have a protracted spawning season that extends from January - August with a peak in April -May in the Indian waters.
Age and growth
The king seer grows very rapidly during the first year of its life reaching an average size of 93 cm and attains 122 cm, 131 cm, 135 cm and 136 cm at the end of 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th year. The length at ages of one to four years for spotted seer is 51 cm, 65 cm, 69 cm and 74 cm respectively. The total life span in the fishery is 5+ years for king seer and 4+ years for spotted seer.
Marketing and utilization
They are very much in demand both in fresh and cured condition. They fetch very high price, ranging from Rs. 80 - 200 per kg. They are consumed, mostly in fresh form. Smaller fishes are easily handled and sold in the local markets; larger fishes are transported in ice to bigger cities. A part of the catch is exported in the form of frozen fish.
Conservation and management
The stock size of king seer has been reduced over a period of time due to continuous increase in exploitation by different gears. Similarly, the stock of spotted seer has also been reduced to some extent, but not as king seer. Gill nets and multi-day trawls at present heavily exploit seerfish stocks and there is need to reduce the effort of these gears. It is necessary to increase the minimum size at first capture by increasing the mesh size to a minimum of 130 mm to avoid recruitment over fishing. The hooks and line and large meshed gill nets target mostly larger sized seerfishes and other pelagics like tunas, barracudas and sharks. These gears need to be encouraged for sustainable catch in the inshore fishing grounds. Operation of these gears needs to be extended to deeper waters.