Investigation on target and by catch species of ribbon fish (Trichiurus Lepturus Linnaeus 1785) mid-water trawl in fishing ground from the south of Qeshm Island waters, Hormozgan Province

The aim of this study was to determine the catch composition differences (morning and evening) during the fishing season of ribbon fish (Trichiurus Lepturus Linnaeus 1785) in the winter of 2020 from the Hormozgan province. The fishing operation was carried out by a mid-water trawler for a week from 6 am. to 6 pm. The average duration of each hauling was 4 hours and the depth of hauling was recorded between 58-68 meters. The ship was equipped with a trawl net with a 41-m head rope and a 75 mm stretched mesh size in the codend. Results of 21 hauling, 23 fish species belonging to 17 families were identified. The frequency of target fish (ribbon fish) was calculated 12719 fishes, with total catch of 21423 kg and CPUE of 1020.14 kg/hauling. The total by-catch was recorded 1828.28 kg, and CPUE of 87.10 kg/hauling. There were no significant differences between total catch of target fish, total by-catch in the morning and evening time, also CPUE and CPUA of target fish(p>0.05). The highest participation rates of fishes were croakers (4.85%), wolf-herring (3.03%), king soldier bream (2.65%), four-finger threadfin (2.59%), queen fish (2.50%), barracuda (2.29%), lizardfish (2.22%), pick-conger (2.01%), king mackerel (1.93%) and trevally (1.85%) respectively.