Species Composition, Distribution, Biomass Trends and Exploitation of Dominant Fish Species in Manila Bay using Experimental Trawl Survey

An experimental trawl fishing survey was conducted in Manila Bay from March 2014 to October 2015 at sixteen (16) pre-established dragging stations adapted from an earlier study (MADECOR, 1995). Using a commercial otter trawl, the average trawling speed during fishing operations was 6-7 km/hour. Analysis of catches focused on biomass trends, species composition, distribution and exploitation of dominant species. A total of 146 fish and invertebrate species belonging to 48 families were recorded during the survey period wherein most of the catches were dominated by small pelagic species such as anchovies and sardines. Exploitation rates (E) for the six (6) dominant species (Sardinella gibbosa, Sardinella fimbriata, Valamugil seheli, Mugil cephalus, Encrasicholina devisi and Stolephorous commersonnii) shows signs of overfishing. The estimated demersal fish biomass of the bay revealed that the relative decline was about 90% from the 1947 baseline study.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Bendaño, Adonis P., Lopez, Grace DV., Perez, Marco A., Santos, Mudjekeewis D., Torres Jr., Francisco SB.
Other Authors:	Vertebrate Section, Capture Fisheries Research and Development Division, National Fisheries Research and Development Institute
Format:	article biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	2017
Subjects:	Biology, Conservation, Ecology, Fisheries, Management, Policies, Manila Bay, overfishing, demersal fish biomass, trawl,
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/1834/41157
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