Year: 2009
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: The oil sardine is a coastal, pelagic schooling fish, forming massive fisheries in India. It has high population to doubling time of less than 15 months and is probably \nthe largest stock in the Indian Ocean (www.fishbase.org). Like many other small pelagics, the oil sardine also has shown pbpulation crashes and sudden recoveries in \nthe past. It is a tropical fish, governed by the vagaries of ocean climatic conditions. It is known for its restricted distribution in the Malabar upwelling region along the southwest coast. It attains a maximum total length of about 22 cm and plays a crucial role in the ecosystem as a plankton feeder and as food for large predators. The annual average production is 3.8 lakh tones (15% of all India total catch) valued at about Rs \n350 crores. It is a cheap source of protein and forms a staple, sustenance and nutritional food for millions of coastal people.
Authors: E Vivekanandan, M. Rajagopalan, N G K Pillai
Language: English
Subfield: Aquatic Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Life below water
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W96666701