Maximum sustainable yield and development status of 24 commercial marine fish groups from Pakistani waters

Abstract

Marine fisheries play an important role in the national economy of Pakistan, as reflected in the provision of animal protein, employment solutions, and foreign-exchange earnings through exports. However, stock assessments are available for few of the commercial marine fish species in Pakistani waters. Most commercial fish species lack assessments of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and allowable catch, a situation that hinders effective fisheries management. A Catch-MSY model based on statistical catch data and prior information on population parameters was applied to assess the total allowable catch (TAC) and MSY values for 24 commercial marine fish groups, and thereby assess the status of the fisheries. The results showed an overall MSY of 40.53×104 tonnes and a TAC of 36.47×104 tonnes for the marine fisheries in Pakistani waters. The overall catch in 2015 was less than MSY, so it was considered that the waters were not overfished. However, the MSY estimates for the 24 fish groups showed that 8 groups (cobia, barracudas, groupers, butterfishes, common dolphinfish, dorab wolf-herring, crevalle jack and largehead hairtail) were overfished because their catches in 2015 exceeded the MSY values. Our assessment indicates that the marine fishery resources in Pakistan have now been fully developed. Therefore, it is necessary to intensify the management of the fish resources, and take effective measures to control the fishing effort and catches in Pakistani waters. Moreover, we recommended developing the pelagic fishery resources, such as purpleback flying squid Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis in the Arabian Sea.