Elasmobranch catch composition of North Sumatera Fishers

Abstract

Indonesia is known to contribute nearly 20% of elasmobranch diversity in the world. Presently, elasmobranch biodiversity research had only conducted in particular waters. However, the distribution of Elasmobranch distributed throughout all Indonesia including in the waters of North Sumatra province. This study aims to examine the diversity of Elasmobranch in North Sumatera waters as Elasmobranch preliminary study. We used landing monitoring method in three landing sites from May to June 2018. We recorded species, total length, and fishing unit information. Sharks and rays commonly were caught by net in coastal waters. We found 8 species from 323sharks and Rays which caught and landed. Sharks were dominated by big eye six gill sharks and rays were dominated by pale-edge stingray. Based on length data, we found that sharks and rays which landed also dominated by immature individual. This condition should be concerned in order to it is conservation management related to gear selectivity, considering coastal area is an important habitat for Elasmobranch.