Name of Fishery Indian Squid Fishery (Gear –Trawl)

Target Species Uroteuthis (Photololigo) duvaucelii

Location Kerala

Fishing Area FAO 

Fishery History Commercial trawling for cephalopods in Kerala started in the late 70s. The annual cephalopod landings of Kerala which from just about 100 t in 1961 increased to 500 t in 1971. 9,500 t in 1981, 19,500 t in 1991, 30,600 t in 1992 and 35000 t decadal average between 2002 -2016.  The majority of landings are currently captured within 20km of the coast at an average depth of 50m. The squid U (P) duvaucelii, one of the dominant species.

Stock Biology Biological Information such as dominant size group in fishery, age, growth, survival, life span, Length at first maturity, sex ratio, spawning season,  fecundity, etc. are available. Other information such as growth and mortality parameters, standing and spawning stock biomass, exploitation ratio, CPUE, landings, are also available. 

Data on Target 

Species population Landing data for U.(P) duvaucelii are available from 2007 onwards.   Fisheries data are collected through CMFRI designed Multi-Stage Random Sampling method. Landing based on catch per unit effort data is collected. CMFRI collects, manage, and stores the data. 

     
Fishing Activities Details of fishing activities such as methods, gear, size/sex/season fished are available

Volume caught

Ecosystem Impacts Any fishing gear that is towed over the seabed will disturb the sediment and the resident community to some degree. The intensity of this disturbance is very much depended on the details of the gear and the sediment type (Hall, 2000). Physical disturbance leads to community changes in the benthos (Ball et al., 2000). There is no ETP species encountered during the fishery. 

Threats to

 Sustainability                         Most of these studies indicated that cephalopods were either under exploited or optimally exploited. Cephalopods are not a targeted fishery along the Indian coast (excepting seasonally along the SW coast) and therefore, it is difficult to set management targets and many of the models applied would have little relevance.

Fishers

Management 

Agencies CMFRI and State Fisheries Department play an important role in restricting landing of undersized Uroteuthis (P) duvaucelii squid through mesh size regulation by stage fisheries polices. Scientific advices are provided by CMFRI.  Apart from these, there are no species specific management agencies to monitor this resource. 

Management KMFR Act

Regime

Management

Compliance Yes fishers comply with management regime if  it is applied through their concurrence and knowledge.  

Community 

Participation in 

Management Community is not involved in the management of the fishery. 

Processing and

Marketing Almost all the catch of cephalopod is exported. More than 80 type of products are processed and exported. The main markets for export of Indian cephalopods are Europe, Japan and China. 

Interest in Certification Fishery interest in certification will be decided based on stake holder meeting shortly

Stake holders Key stakeholders are fishers, buyers and processors/exporters

Issues Requiring 

Special Attention

Additional 

Comments

References

Ball, B., Munday, B., Tuck, I., 2000.  Effects of otter trawling on the benthos and environment in muddy sediments. In: Kaiser, K.J., De Groot, S.J. (Eds.). The Effect of Fishing on Non-target species and Habitats, Blackwell Science, Japan. 69 – 81. 

Hall, S. J. 2000. The Effect of Fishing on Marine Ecosystems and Communities, Blackwell Science, Japan. 274.