STOCK ASSESSMENT OF THE COASTAL SHRIMP PENAEUS SEMISULCATUS IN THE EASTERN WATERS OF YEMEN

STOCK ASSESSMENT OF THE COASTAL SHRIMP PENAEUS
SEMISULCATUS IN THE EASTERN WATERS OF YEMEN
MAHBOOB MOHAMED ABDUL-WAHAB
Marine Science and Resources Research Center Aden, Republic of Yemen
Key words: Penaeus semisulcatus, Ghubbat Al-Qamar, Yemen water, mortalities, exploitation
rate.
ABSTRACT
There is a lack of biological informations on shrimps in Yemeni waters. The main
commercial species of shrimp is Penaeus semisulcatus caught from the eastern waters of
Yemen and the Red Sea. Growth parameters, mortalities, biomass, and total allowable catch
were estimated for this species in the eastern waters of Yemen. The calculated growth
parameters were L
= 51 mm, K = 1.6 year
-1
and to = – 0.13 for males and L
= 62 mm, K =
1.5 year
-1
and to = – 0.11 for females. The natural mortality coefficient (M) was estimated
as 2.6 year
-1
and 2.4 year
-1
for males and females respectively. The total mortality
coefficient (Z) was 7.3 year
-1
for males and 5.6 year
-1
for females. Total biomass was
estimated using length-structured VPA as 360 tons. The exploitation rate (E) was estimated
as 0.64 and 0.57 for males and females respectively. Accordingly the annual allowable
catch and effort were recommended to be kept at 2003 levels of 78 tons through 151
fishing days and the fishing season was recommended to be from the 1
st August to midOctober using two fishing vessels.