Fish catches diversity of the glass eel fishery in Cikaso and Cimandiri estuaries, Sukabumi, Indonesia

Abstract

Cikaso and Cimandiri estuaries are well known as the central area of glass eel fisheries in Sukabumi Regency. Local fishermen catch glass eels using two main fishing gears, namely traps and lift nets. Although both fishing gears' target operation is glass eels, many other fish species are also caught as bycatch. The present study aimed to identify glass eels and bycatch ichthyofauna in glass eel fisheries of the Cikaso and Cimandiri estuaries, Sukabumi. The research was carried out monthly from November 2020 to January 2021. Glass eels fishing gears collected a total of 21 fish species belonging to 15 families in both estuaries. According to the percentage ano-dorsal length measurement to total length (AD/TL), 3 species of glass eel were identified, i.e. Anguilla bicolor bicolor, A. nebulosa, and A. marmorata. These three species were the most abundant fish catches in both estuaries. More than 18 bycatch ichthyofauna were recorded and most of them are economically important fish, such as Ambassidae, Eleotridae, Engraulidae, Gobiidae, and Polinemidae. To sustain fishery management, the recording bycatch from glass eel fishery in the Cikaso and Cimandiri estuaries is necessary to be done regularly because they contribute to fishing mortality.