Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://saruna.mnu.edu.mv/jspui/handle/123456789/14003
Title: | The tuna livebait fishery in North Ari Atoll |
Authors: | Jauharee, Ahmed Riyaz |
Issue Date: | 2020 |
Publisher: | IUCN The Government of Maldives in collaboration with USAID |
Citation: | Jauharee. A.R. (2020).The tuna livebait fishery in North Ari Atoll. IUCN and the Government of Maldives in collaboration with USAID |
Description: | This North- Ari Livebait report is an
initiative under the REGENERATE
project implemented by IUCN to
map the livebait fishery resources, its
utilization, fishing grounds and fishing
methods practiced by North-Ari fishers.
Although livebait fishery is the most
important fishery in the Maldives,
proper mapping of livebait resources
including fishing grounds has never
been done till now. This is the first
attempt to map livebait resources
and its utilization in one atoll of the
Maldives. The information used in this
atlas is gathered mainly through fisher
interviews and fisheries related statistics
obtained from fishers. Both tuna and
reef fishers in North-Ari atoll use livebait
for fishing. The livebait is harvested
around reefs across the atoll at night
and during the day. The pole-and-line
fishers targeting tuna use very small bait
fish such as silver sprat (Spratelloides
gracilis), blue sprat (Spratelloides
delicatulus) anchovy (Encrasicholina
heteroloba) and cardinal fishes
(Apagonidae) while the handline fishers
who catch large tuna (>80cm FL) use
round scad (Decapterus macarellus),
bigeye scad (Selar crumenopthalamus)
and red-tooth trigger fish (Odonus
niger) as bait. Reef fishers also harvest
relatively large bait fish similar to those
used by the handline tuna fishers.
The bait fish are caught using large
rectangular lift nets (about 80 x 70
feet) operated from the fishing vessels.
During the day bait is attracted on
to the submerged net using chum.
At night bait are aggregated under
the boat with the help of powerful
lights (2000W to 6000W). Net is then
lowered into the water and spread
beneath the aggregation. The bait
net is pulled to the surface with the
help of ropes attached to the sides
of the net. North-Ari has rich livebait
fishing grounds thus attracting several
fishers from other parts of the country
to harvest livebait from this atoll. On
average fishers collect about 150kg
of livebait for each fishing trip. When
bait is abundant, large vessels may
harvest more than 500kg of livebait. It
is estimated that 10,000 Mt of livebait
are harvested from the reefs across the
Maldives every year.
Several fishers acknowledge sightings
or interaction with endangered,
threatened or protected species during
livebait fishing operations. Organisms
such as turtles, sharks and dolphins
are sighted at the bait fishing grounds
while sometimes rays and whale
sharks do enter the bait nets as the
fishers haul the net. Plankton feeders
such as manta rays and whale sharks
are attracted to the large volume of
plankton aggregated under the lights
used during night bait fishing.
Similar to any other open access
fishery, if the livebait fishery is not
managed properly, the livebait
resources in the Maldives can be
overharvested and could result in stock
depletion. To properly manage this
fishery it is important to successfully
implement the existing data collection
mechanisms; map catch trends at
atoll level and use the data collected
to produce annual reports that would
help identify depletion of catch across
the country. In addition discourage
alternative use of livebait including
the sale of baitfish species at the
local markets; prevent introduction
of any new bait fishing gear without
approval by MoFA; effectively enforce
the regulations on marine protected
areas and if severe declining of livebait
resources be evident more exclusion
zones should be set up and size limits
on baits and lights used for bait fishing
should be in place |
URI: | http://saruna.mnu.edu.mv/jspui/handle/123456789/14003 |
Appears in Collections: | މަސްވެރިކަން Fisheries
|
Items in Saruna are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.