Age, growth and stock assessment of the Indian oilsardine Sardinella longiceps Valenciennes 1847 off Mahout coast, Sultanate of Oman

Abstract

A study on the age, growth and stock assessment of the Indian oilsardine Sardinella longiceps was conducted between September 2007 and September 2009 from Mahout along the Arabian Sea coast of Oman. The size of the fish in commercial catches varied from 161 mm to 228 mm total length (TL). The length-weight relationship for both males and females can be expressed as W = 0.00005*L2.914659. The estimated growth parameters L∞, K and t0 were 230 cm, 1.33 y-1 and -0.09 y respectively and most of the fish caught were in 1+ year of age. The annual total mortality (Z), natural mortality (M) and fishing mortality (F) rates were 3.661, 2.21 and 1.451 respectively. The exploitation rate (E) was 0.396. The estimated standing stock was 1,473 t and the annual stock stood at 7,311 t. The MSY estimated by Thompson and Bell analysis was equal to 5,552 t. The study indicates scope for additional catches of Indian oilsardine from the Mahout coast.