Collapse of sand lobster fishery in Bombay waters

Abstract

The sand lobster Thenus orientalis started appearing in trawl catches at Bombay
in 1978 and reached a peak of 374.71 in 1982. During 1983-1987 period the catch
remained stable around annual average of 260.9 t and contributed 0.34% of the
total fish and 43.8% of the total lobster catch. After the second peak of 334.0 t in
1986, the catch declined rapidly to 2.2 t in 1994 and afterwards no catch was
recorded. The entire fishery that lasted for 17 years, has been described in three
phases, the developing, stabilized and declining phases. Biological investigations
revealed that this slow growing species breeds only once a year during
October-January and has low fecundity. The exploitation of spawning stock during
the breeding period led to recruitment overfishing and consequent decline in
the catches. In the absence of any stock management efforts, the removal of the
spawning stock continued in the declining phase, which has led to total collapse of
the fishery. In order to salvage this valuable resource, management option of
banning further exploitation and returning the ovigerous female back to the sea
have been suggested. Stock building process through sea-ranching of the species
should be undertaken immediately.