Spiny lobster fishery around the Mahe Plateau, November 1994 - January 1995

This report reviews the spiny lobster fishery on the Mahe Plateau during the 1994 - 1995 fishing season. Following the recommendations made after the 1992 fishing season, the fishery was reopened in 1993 for two months, November and December. The monitoring programme set up in 1992 was continued to gather more information on the spiny lobster stocks so as to improve the management of this resource around the Mahe Plateau. A total of 33 licenses were issued (compared to 28 in 1993); 25 on Mahe, 2 on Praslin and 6 on La Digue. A licensed fishing unit comprised, on average, of three men. Snorkelling was used by 27 fishing units as the only catching method, 3 fishing units used traps only whilst 3 fishing units combined snorkelling with the use of traps. Over the three month open season a total of 4.1 tonnes of spiny lobsters were estimated to have been landed compared to 4.2 tonnes in 1993, most landings were on Mahe (3.03 tonnes) A catch of 0.9 tonnes was landed in November, 1.2 tonnes landed in December and 2.0 tonnes landed in January. Altogether 159 trips were undertaken equivalent to 477 man-trips for the season with 28 trips in November, 63 trips in December and 68 trips in January. The snorkelling and trap capture methods represented 70.2% and 29.8% of the catch respectively. The catch per unit of effort (CPUE) for November through January was: -36 kg/trip (November), -39 kg/trip (December), -28.5 kg/trip (January). Three main species were targeted: Panulirus penicillatus (Homard Grosse Tete), Panulirus longipes (Homard Rouge), Panulirus versicolor (Homard Vert). The catch composition by fishing method was: a) Snorkellling: Homard Grosse Tete : 80.4% Homard Rouge : 19.2% Homard Vert : 0.4% b) Trap: Homard Grosse Tete : 100%

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Domingue, G., Boulle, D.P.
Format:	Report biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	Victoria: Seychelles Fishing Authority 1995
Subjects:	Lobster stock, Seychelles, Panulirus versicolor, Panulirus penicillatus, Panulirus longipes, Resource management, Lobster fisheries,
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/1834/1331
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