Stock assessment of demersal resources in the West northern Of Persian Gulf waters

In order to estimate the biomass of demersal in a part of Khouzestan and Boushehr waters (North- West Persian Gulf), a research Survey was carried out by using R/V Ferdows 1covering the depths 10-20, 20-30 and >30m. Study area was stratified into 2 strata(A, B) and 32 stations selected randomly and were sampled by Swept Area method. 44, 43, 54 and 36 species were identified in substrata A1 , B1 , B2 and B3, respectively. Catch Per Unit of Area and biomass in substrata A1 , B1 , B2 and B3 were 2396, 3102, 4942, 7904 kg/nm2 and 1198, 1292, 2471, 3952 kg, respectively. The maximum and minimum biomass belong to Upeneus sulphureus(1269kg), Nemipterus Japonicus(857kg) and Apogon sp. (2.23kg), Scorpion sp.(4.18kg) species, respectively. Total biomass in the area was estimated 9015 kg of which 6491 kg was non- commercial. A decrease of fishing effort should seriously be taken into consideration.