Stock assessment of Otolithes ruber in theIranian coastal of the Sea of Oman (From Meidani to Gwatre)
Subject Areas : New Technologies in Aquaculture Development
Keywords: Keywords: Stock assessment, Sea of Oman, Demersal resources, Otolithes rubber,
Abstract :
Otolithes ruber is one of the species studied in the project of “stock assessment of demersal resources by swept area method in the Sea of Oman in 1999_2000. A series of 4 research cruises were conducted by R/V Ferdows_1.The area which was studied was from Meidani (58° 55' E ) to Gwatre Bay (61° 30' E ) with a depth range of 10 to 100m.The studied area of 1164 Nautical square mile was divided into 5 sub regions ( A,B,C,D&E ) each covering 30 minutes width, each region was divided into 4 depth stratum: 10 to 20, 20 to 30, 30 to 50 and 50 to 100 meters . In each cruise, sampling was carried out for more than 90 stations using a bottom trawler. The seasonal and annual biomass for each region and stratum was estimated. The average annual biomass for the whole area was 775.26 tons and for each stratum of 10 to 20, 20 to 30, 30 to 50 and 50 to 100 meters were 420.54, 265.87, 46.22 and 42.64 tons respectively. It is clear that the maximum biomass was found at the depth of 10 to 20 m. whereas the minimum was found at the depth of 50-100 meters. The annual average biomass for different regions of A, B, C, D and E was estimated as 82.35, 133.79, 175.36, 162.32 and 221.45 tons respectively.The total length and weight of 1694 specimens of O.ruber were measured. The total length ranged from 20.5 to 60.5 centimeters. Comparing distribution patterns indicated that the O. ruber inhabits mainly in front of Darak, from Gordim till Chabahar and Gwatre Bay. The seasonal parabolic equations of length _ weight relationship were studied. In this regard, there was no significant difference between seasonal b_value with others.
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