Catch Composition of the bottom trawl fishery along the Coasts of Karataş-Adana (Northeastern Mediterranean Sea)

Abstract

The catch composition of the bottom trawl fishery along the coasts of Karataş was evaluated in the 2002-2003 fishing season. A total of 110 species were registered, the fishes showed the highest diversity (90 species) followed by 15 crustaceans species and 5 species of cephalopods. The highest catch per unit effort (CPUE) value (66.8 kg h-1) was recorded in September when the fishing season was opened and decreased to the lowest value in March (12.5 kg h-1). The average CPUE was 26.3 ± 18.9 kg h-1. The result showed that catch of fish decrease with increasing depth. The highest fish catch (47.42%) was found in 0-20 m depth range. 35.58 percent of the catch was between 20-50 m, and 17.00% between 50-100 m depth. Lessepsian fish comprise 18.90% of all fish in terms of the number of species and 26.66% of the total fish catch.

Keywords

• Trawl fishery, Species composition, Karataş, Iskenderun Bay, Mediterranean.