Fish stock assessment – an overview- Winter School on Towards Ecosystem Based Management of Marine Fisheries – Building Mass Balance Trophic and Simulation Models

During the last five decades there has been a tremendous increase in fish production, concomitant with the improved technologies in the harvest and post harvest operations, and the extension of fishing areas beyond the conventional grounds. In most of the countries, however, the production trends in respect of the commercially important fishery resources have been showing gradual decline. The situation is no different in India. The phenomenal increase in production triggered by market growth was achieved through adoption of modern methods for exploitation and extension of fishing from the traditional near shore waters to deeper regions. This has also brought in its wake regional and sectoral imbalances in the exploitation of the common resources. The artisanal sector is increasingly marginalized by the growth in mechanized and motorized sector. Many of the resources in different regions of our EEZ are reportedly over-fished