Results of the spiny lobster fishery for November and December 1992

This report reviews the lobster catch during the months of November and December 1992. In total, 38 fishing units were licenced: 26 on Mahe, 7 on La Digue and 5 on Praslin. 8 licence holders provided no information and claimed that they undertook no fishing trips at all. Of the remainder, each fishing unit comprised an average of 3 men. 2 fishing units used traps as the only catching method, 27 used snorkelling and 1 a combination of traps and snorkelling. For the two month period, an estimated catch of 4.9 tonnes of Spiny Lobster for all sites were landed; of which Mahe contributed an estimated 2.8 tonnes. For the month of November only, a total catch of 2.7 tonnes of lobsters were estimated and for the month of December a total of 2.2 tonnes were caught. For the month of November there were a total of 142 trips by 418 men, and for the month of December there were 89 trips and 252 men were involved in the fishery. Three main species were landed : Panulirus penicilatus (Homard Grosse Tete), Panulirus longipes (Homard Rouge), Panulirus versicolor (Homard Vert). The catch rate for the month of November was 19.5 kg/trip, and the catch rate of December was 27.2 kg/trip. The mean carapace length of each species were respectively: (in cm) MALES FEMALES G.T. = 10.8 G.T. = 8.8 H.R. = 8.7 H.R.= 8.4 H.V. = 9.0 H.V.= 8.6 By fishing method snorkelling, 95.5% of lobsters were caught and by fishing method trap, 4.5% of lobsters were caught. The catch composition from fishing methods utilised were: a) Snorkelling: Homard Grosse Tete, 85.9% Homard Rouge, 13.9% Homard Vert, 0.2% b) Trap: Homard Rouge, 100%

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