International Journal of Aquaculture, 2018, Vol.8, No.8, 53-64
62
Out of nine vulnerable species, two species of seahorses,
Hippocampus kuda
and
Hippocampus trimaculatus
were
cited under Appendix II of the CITES. Seahorses are valuable species in trades for Chinese medicines.
H.
trimaculatus
is one of the most traded species in the international seahorse trade (Evanson et al., 2011;
UNEP-WCMC, 2012a). Since 2003 the status of these species remains as vulnerable. Trade surveys conducted by
Project Seahorse during 1995-2000 reported that while the global trade of seahorses appears to be increasing, but
the fishermen and other surveys reported a considerable decline in seahorse availability globally. Seahorses are
threatened by habitat destruction (Vincent et al., 2005) such as coastal development, destructive fishing practices,
diminishing seagrass beds due to trawling and destruction of mangroves which leads to increased pollution and
siltation in surrounding marine waters (Short et al., 2011). Along with these sea horses
Anguilla anguilla
,
Rhincodon typus
and
Sphyrna lewini
, were also included in Appendix II of the CITES.
Ten near threatened (NT), Thirty nine Least Concern (LC) and Twelve Data Deficient (DD) species were the
other identified specimens. Ten species of groupers;
Epinephelus chlorostigma
,
E. diacanthus
,
E. fuscoguttatus
,
E.
latifasciatus
,
E. longispinis
,
E. malabaricus
,
E. merra
,
E. radiatus
,
E. tauvina
,
E. undulosus
were collected from
study areas during the study period. Compared to 2013 the grouper landings increased 34.1% in 2014 (Rekha et
al., 2015).
E. diacanthus
, was the dominating grouper species.
E. radiatus
,
E. tauvina
,
E. undulosus
were
observed in Kollam harbour only in postmonsoon season.
Sardinella longiceps
which is commonly known as Indian oil sardine and they are highly migratory and schooling
species. Sardine was the single major contributor towards the total catch, but showed a noticeable decrease in
total landings throughout the study period. In our study, this species was observed in harbours of Kochi in
premonsoon season and also observed in harbours of Kozhikode in postmonsoon season. The annual report of
CMFRI-2015 mentioned that the annual landings of oil sardine in Kerala coast was 10,290 tonnes/year, in 2013 it
was 246,841 tonnes/year but in 2016 it reached up to 45,958 tonnes/year (CMFRI, 2013; 2014; 2015; 2016).
Based on 2017-3 IUCN Red List,
Sardinella longiceps
is a least concerned species but the recent reports showed
a declining trend in landings along Kerala coast. Climatic changes in oceans, marine pollution and increased
anthropogenic activities may be the main reason for the decline in marine fish landings (Times of India, 2015;
The Hindu, 2016).
Habitat destruction spread of diseases, marine pollution, increased anthropogenic activities, targeting of specific
species because of increased commercial values and unsustainable fishing practices lead to the extinction of
species. In fishery sector, the accidental catch of protected species is a common problem. The officials of
protected resources have to modify fishing gears to minimize the bycatch. As a consequence of difficulty in
continuous monitoring of marine ecosystem, the extinction reports are very less.
3 Conclusions
Conservation of threatened species is essential for the sustainability of the ecosystems. The effective method for
conservation is creating awareness about the overexploitation and illegal marketing of products from the
threatened marine organisms. Protection of habitat, controlled human activities by increasing number of protected
areas and restoration of threatened species through artificial methods can reduce the population destruction.
Authors’ contributions
Vincent P.D., Soumya Krishnankutty and Ajith Joseph C.: Fish sample collection, analysis species identification and preparation of
manuscript. Dr. A.A. Mohamed Hatha has contributed in the design of the study, mobilization of research grants, review and
finalization of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Dr. Ravinesh R., Department of Aquatic Biology, Kerala University, Thiruvananthapuram, for rendering
help during species identification and valuable comments on the manuscript. The authors are also thankful to Ministry of Earth
Sciences and Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology for the financial support to this research.
