Prawn fishery by the 'Big trawlers' along the northeast coast

The present analysis of the four year data (1983-'84 to 1986-'87) shows that the number of vessels in the fleet increased from 55 in 1983-'84 to 100 in 1986-'87. Although the landings also increased over the years it is not commensurate with the effort. Catch per hour of trawling (CPH) for total prawns declined gradually from 20.1 kg in 1984-'85 to 15.8 kg in 1986-'87. CPH for 'browns', the dominant component of the prawn landings, also declined from 12.6 kg in 1984-'85 to 9.0 kg in 1986-’87. The other two groups of prawns, 'tigers' and 'whites', also indicated a decline in CPH over the years. This clearly shows that the 29 fishery has already reached a peak in 1984-'85 and is on a downward trend