Assessment of two cichlids stocks with virtual population analysis in Garmat Ali River, Basrah, Iraq
Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources, College of Agriculture, Basrah University, Iraq.
Research Article
World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2022, 13(02), 163–172
Publication history:
Received on 05 January 2022; revised on 06 February 2022; accepted on 08 February 2022
Abstract:
The study is an attempt to evaluate the population characteristics and virtual population analysis (VPA) of two invasive species (Oreochromis niloticus and Oreochromis aureus) using the FiSAT II software based on the data collected from the Garmat Ali River, Iraq. A total of 4391 individuals (2727 of O. niloticus and 1664 of O. aureus) were measured for length-frequency analysis from October 2019 to September 2020. Length-weight relationships were derived, indicating allometric growth for both species. The asymptotic length (L∞) and growth rate constant (K) were estimated to be 30.5 cm and 0.45 for O. niloticus and 29.9 cm and 0.21 for O. aureus. The annual rates of fishing (F) and exploitation (E) for O. niloticus were found to be 2.24 and 0.69, respectively, and for O. aureus 0.48 and 0.43, respectively. The present exploitation rates (E) of both species were below the biological target reference points, E0.1 and Emax, thus expressing a case of under-exploitation of both species. Besides, the result of the virtual population analysis (VPA) revealed that the majority of O. niloticus and O. aureus individuals were harvested at lengths 20 cm and 17 cm, respectively. Also, the lengths at first capture (L50) for both species were considerably higher than their lengths at first maturity (Lm). Therefore, for management purposes, this study suggests that more yields can be obtained by increasing the fishing activities on these invasive species, such as increasing the number of fishing boats and decreasing the mesh size to decline its abundance in the long term.
Keywords:
Cichlids; Stock analysis; Virtual population analysis; Garmat Ali River; Iraq
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