Advancement in research on fish stock assessment

Assessment of exploited fish stocks and the associated fishery is essential for evolving appropriate fishery management plans and policies. Fishery resources assessment is integrated into the research framework of CMFRI and is one of the major mandates of the Institute. The Institute has attuned its research objectives in consonance with development of marine fisheries during different phases of growth in marine fisheries. Concomitant with the growth of marine fisheries in India, there has been progressive refinement in stock assessment of exploited resources. The outputs from the assessments formed significant inputs to fisheries governance and policy making. A stock assessment process includes the collection of fishery data comprising the catch and effort, estimation of intermediary parameters such as the growth and mortality, estimation of performance indicators and ultimately the management reference points that would facilitate fisheries management. Stock assessment in India, owing to the multi-species and multi-gear nature of the fishery, has evolved differently, yet closely related to the research efforts in the fisheries in the different parts of the world and is based on the region specific approaches developed by the scientists of the Institute. The statistical support system for resource assessment was built on scientific principles of data collection. The Institute has also kept pace with the revolutionary progress in information technology through periodic upgrading of computing facilities and software skills. This paper overviews the progress of research in resource assessment and its support systems