Spatial variability and abundance pattern of Indian squid off Maharashtra coast, India

An analysis was carried out on monthly spatial distribution and unusual congregation of Indian squid (Uroteuthis (Photololigo) duvaucelii) off Maharashtra coast. Decadal, annual and monthly squid landing data were taken from National Marine Living Resources Data Centre (NMLRDC) of ICAR-CMFRI. Onboard fisheries information were collected from multi-day trawlers operating from Mumbai and Ratnagiri. Ocean environment parameters coming from Copernicus Marine Service Information with 1/12 degree horizontal resolution and 50 vertical depth level and OSCAR (Ocean Surface Current Analysis Real-time) near-surface ocean current estimates was derived using quasi-linear and steady flow momentum equations on a 1/3 degree grid with a 5 day resolution. In last decade, contribution of squid to total marine fish landing of Maharashtra rose from 2% to 7.3%. The decadal landing shows two peaks in 2012 and 2017. Indian squid landing in 2017 shows two peak, one during August to October confined to 150 N to 170 N latitude in 15 to 60 m depth off south Maharashtra and second in summer, during March-April months widely scattered in north and south Maharashtra. The unusual abundance of Indian squid during mid-October to mid- November 2017 were attributed to rise in coastal surface and subsurface temperature. Catch per hour of trawl and SST shows strong positive correlation (0.79) during the same period