Catch per Unit Effort Comparison between Potential Fishing Zone and non-Potential Fishing Zone from 2008 to 2011 of West Bengal coast, India

The Catch per Unit Efforts (CPUE) of Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) and non-Potential Fishing Zone (non-PFZ) has been evaluated for four years from 2008 to 2011 in the West Bengal coast of the northern Bay of Bengal, India. The CPUE is calculated in kg per hour against 182 validated PFZ forecasts. The CPUE in PFZ areas are found to be consistently higher, often double than that of non-PFZ areas (34.63 +/- 18.59 kg h(-1) in PFZ, 17.15 +/- 9.12 kg h(-1) in non-PFZ). That indicates the benefit of utilization of PFZ advisories. The total CPUE, however has been found to be declining in recent year (R-2=0.7987) due to increasing the number of mechanized fishing vessels and overexploitation of marine fishes.