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Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 2006, Vol 6, Num, 1     (Pages: 57-62)

Distribution and Seasonal Movement of Atlantic Bonito (Sarda sarda) Populations in the Southern Black Sea Coasts

Mustafa Zengin 1 ,A. Cemal Dinçer 2

1 Central Fisheries Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural affairs (MARA) 61100. Trabzon, Turkey
2 Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Marine Sciences, Department of Fisheries Technology. 61080 Trabzon, Turkey
Viewed : 4226 - Downloaded : 4574 This study was carried out in the Southern Black Sea coasts during the autumn-winter migration of bonito (Sarda sarda) within the fishing periods of 2000-2001 and 2001-2002. Findings related to fishing gear and techniques were obtained from the commercial fishing vessels that mainly used purse seine and gill net as a means of catching bonito. The data concerning the bonito populations were obtained from the landed catch. It was found that the age composition of bonito consisted of zero and one year of age and that they had not reached their sexual maturity yet. The average length distribution of the population was found to be within the range of 15.1–47.5 cm. The catch per unit effort (CPUE) values for the landed catch were found to be 619.8 kg/vessel/operation for the purse-seiners, and 83.1 kg/vessel/operation for the gill-netters.

According to the long-term statistics, the amount of bonito catches was subject to variation of increase and decrease with the five years periods. It was estimated that this fluctuations were the results of excessive fishing power imposed upon the bonito stocks. Therefore, some recommendations relating to the sustainable fishing for the bonito stocks in the Southern Black Sea coasts were outlined. Keywords : Southern Eastern Black Sea coasts, Atlantic bonito, catch per unit effort (CPUE), length and age distribution, spawning and feeding migration