Demersal Fisheries

 Activities

• Collection and analysis of data on fishing effort and catch (gear-wise catch-effort)and species composition of demersal fish from various fishery centres along the Indian coast.
• Conduct studies on the biology and resilience capacity of major commercial demersal finfish resources (elasmobranchs, perches, catfishes, sciaenids, pomfrets, flatfishes, silverbellies, lizardfishes, barracuda)
• Stock assessment of demersal fishery resources
• Suggestion of management options to maritime states for sustaining and enhancing the resources
• Faculty for training programs in finfish taxonomy and fish stock assessment
• Assessing the impact of climate change on marine fisheries
• Conducting studies on marine mammals of Indian seas and contiguous seas

Research projects (on-going)

A. In-House

1. Management advisories for sustaining marine fisheries of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry
2. Management advisories for sustaining marine fisheries of Gujarat
3. Carbon sequestration potential of Indian sea weeds

 B. Sponsored Projects

1. Impact, adaptation and vulnerability of Indian Marine Fisheries to Climate change (II Phase) ICAR network project : 2007-12
2. Studies onMarine Mammals of Indian Exclusive Economic Zone and the contiguous Seas (II Phase) (MoES/CMLRE) : 2007-12
3. Establishment and characterization of cell lines from selected marine food fish and ornamental fish (DBT) : 2009-12
4. Bio-inventorisation of the coral fishes of South India with special emphasis on threats and conservation measures (MoEF) : 2009-12
5. Flow of matter through trophic levels and biogeochemical cycles in marine and estuarine ecosystems. (MoES/ORMDP) : 2010-13

 C. Inter-institutional /Inter-divisional projects

1. National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA)- Marine Capture Fisheries Component.
2. Management advisories for sustaining marine fisheries of Kerala and Lakshadweep and Andhra Pradesh
3. Application of trophic modeling in marine fisheries management
4. Resource damage assessment in marine fisheries : impact of selective fishing of juveniles bycatch and discards in trawl fisheries
5. Understanding the threatened Coral Reef Ecosystems of Southern India and Designing Interventions aimed at their Restoration
6. Pathogen profiling, diagnostics and health management in maricultured fish and shellfish
7. Sustainability profiling of major fisheries off Kerala coast – a Multi Dimensional Scaling approach
8. Impact on WTO regulations on Indian fisheries trade: A policy perspective
9. Assessment of biodiversity and ecological impact in open sea cage farming

Thrust areas of the Division for 12^th Five year plan

• Resource assessment studies of elasmobranchs of Indian Seas
• Development of sustainable management strategies for trawl fisheries  along Indian coast
• Re-assessment of demersal fish stock status and development of database on reproductive potential of  major demersal stocks

Teaching aids (Training materials) developed

The following technical notes were prepared for the participants of international training on “Regional training course on strengthening of data collection and stock assessment (RT-SDC) for member countries of BOBP-IGO” during 25-4-2011 - 07-5-2011. p. 1-28.

1. A practical guide to Collection of biological data on demersal resources by Najmudeen T. M and P.U. Zacharia, 2011
2. Trophodynamics and review of methods for Stomach content analysis of fishes by P.U. Zacharia, 2011
3. Field Guide for the identification of major demersal fishes of India by Rekha J. Nair and P. U. Zacharia, 2011