Catfish resource in the Indian shelf waters

At attempt is made to analyse the bottom trawl fishing data collected by 91 cmises of FORV Sagar Sampada (1985 - '91). The vessel trawled in 544 stations spread over both the coasts up to a depth of 100 m and catfishes appeared in 54 stations with catch 3 -2401 kg/hr. The dominant species occurred beyond 50 m depth belt was invariably Tachysurus thalassinus whereas shoaling species like T. tenuispinis and T.dussumieri are reported from grounds less than 50 m. The resource has better abundance in 51 -100 m depth belt along northwest and northeast region