Fishery and population dynamics of Otolithoides pama (Hamilton, 1822) from Hooghly-Matlah Estuary of West Bengal, India

The fishery and population dynamics of Otolithoides pama (Hamilton, 1822) were studied from the Hooghly-Matlah estuary of West Bengal from November 2016 to April 2018. The average annual catch of sciaenids for the last five years was estimated at 22 mt and formed 12.66% of the total marine production of the state of West Bengal, India. The peak landings of O. pama were found during March from gill net catches and November-December from bag net catches. The species followed continuous recruitment throughout the year with two distinct peaks during March-August and July-October. The probability of capture was estimated to be 148.35 mm, while the length at recruitment was 104.5 mm. The rate of exploitation (0.73) was found to be higher than E-max (0.58), indicating a higher fishing pressure of the species. The length-based Virtual Population Analysis revealed that the highest fishing mortality occurred from the 140-159 mm length group onwards. Both Beverton and Holt yield per recruit analysis and Thompson and Bell prediction analysis revealed higher fishing effort being employed for the species, which would need to be reduced by 20% for sustainable management of the species at the studied estuarine system.