Investigation of trends in catch and growth patterns of Acipenser persicus Borodin, 1897 during three decades in the southern Caspian Sea

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD Student, Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Gonbad Kavos University, Gonbad Kavos, Iran

2 Associate Professor, College of Natural Resources, Gonbad Kavous University, Gonbad Kavous, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, College of Natural Resources, Gonbad Kavous University, Gonbad Kavous, Iran

4 Ph. D in Fisheries, Management of Sturgeon Fishes Affairs, Holding of Agricultural Services, Gorgan, Iran

5 Ph. D in Fisheries, Hormozgan Fisheries Organization, Bandar Abbas, Iran

10.22059/jfisheries.2023.356565.1373

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate variability in growth pattern and evaluate abundance of A. persicus based on catch data in the southern Caspian Sea water in a period of 27 years (1991-2018). The data of 72704 specimens were analyzed separately by sex (male, female and population), time (years) and region (coastal waters of Gilan, Mazandaran and Golestan provinces). The highest catch of this species was recorded in 1991 (6038 pieces of the fish) and the lowest catch was recorded in 2018 (292 pieces). During the period, the Golestan province had the highest number of catches (30851 pieces) and Gilan province had the lowest ones (11129 pieces). The maximum recorded fork length of this species was 240 cm in 2006. The results showed that the highest annual average fork length was 151 cm in 2007 and 2010 and the highest annual average total weight in 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997 and 2007, which was 26000 grams. The lowest annual average fork length was 139 cm in 2018 and the lowest annual average total weight was 600 grams in 2010 and 2012. The highest length frequency corresponded for the ranges of 136-148 and 148-160 cm in males and females, respectively. The females showed the highest catches in 1991, and the lowest in 2018, while the males had the highest in 1991, and the lowest in 2014. The females dominated the population in the period of 1991- 2013, and after that this ratio was reversed. The allometric coefficient of growth (b) varied between 1.03 and 3.49 in the study period. The growth pattern was mostly positive allometric in first decade of study (1991-2001), isometric or negative allometric in the second decade of study period (2001-2011), and negative in third decade (2011-2018). During the study period, the condition factor of the fish varied between 0.61 and 0.80, and the average of the factor for the whole period of study was 0.72. Generally, the catch of A. persicus in the southern Caspian waters decreased more than 95% from 1991 to 2018 (a period of 27 catch-years).

Keywords

Main Subjects


 Aghilinejhad, S.M., Gorgin, S., Joolaie, R., Paighambari, S.Y., Ghorbani, R., Mohammadi, J., 2017. Identifying Factors Involved in Illegal Fishing in the Southwestern Caspian Sea. Journal of Fisheries (Iranian Journal of Natural Resources) 70(2), 161-169. (In Persian). DOI: 10.22059/JFISHERIES.2018.225121.970
Alavi, S.M.H., Karami, M., Abdul Hai, H., Qadirnejad, S.H., 2005. Relationship between length, weight and age of Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) on the southeastern shores of the Caspian Sea (Case study: Turkmen fishery in summer fishing). Iranian Journal of Natural Resources 58(3), 614-603. (In Persian)
Alavi-Yeganeh, M.S., Falahatkar, B., 2013. Some Biological aspects of Russian sturgeon brood stocks, Acipenser gueldenstaedtii Brandt & Ratzeburg, 1833 in southeastern Caspian Sea (Case study; Torkaman & Mian-Ghale Fishing Stations). Journal of Fisheries Science and Technology 2(3), 89-93. (In Persian). DOI: 20.1001.1.23225513.1392.2.3.4.2
Alavi-Yeganeh, M.S., Falahatkar, B., 2014. Length-Weight relationship and fecundity of Persian Sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) female brood stocks along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea. Journal of Fisheries Science and Technology 3(1), 81-84. (In Persian). DOI: 20.1001.1.23225513.1393.3.1.3.4
Bagenal, T., Tesch, F., 1978. Methods for Assessment of Fish Production in Fresh Waters. IBP Handbook 3 Blackwell, Oxford, UK. pp. 101-136.
Bakhshalizadeh, S., Bani, A., Abdolmalaki, S., Nahrevar, R., Rastin, R., 2011. Age, growth and mortality of the Persian Sturgeon, Acipenser persicus, in the Iranian waters of the Caspian Sea. Caspian Journal of Environmental Sciences 9(2), 159-167.
 Blackwell Brian G., Brown Michael, L., Willis David, W., 2000. Relative Weight (Wr) Status and Current Use in Fisheries Assessment and Management. Reviews in Fisheries Science 8(1), 1-44. DOI: 10.1080/10641260091129161
Froese, R., 2006. Cube law, condition factor and weight-length relationships: history, meta-analysis and recommendations. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 22, 241-253. DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0426.2006.00805.x
Gonçalves, J.M.S., Bentes, L., Lino, P.G., Ribeiro, J., Canário, A.V.M., Erzini, K., 1997. Weight-length relationships for selected fish species of the small-scale demersal fisheries of the south and south-west coast of Portugal, Fisheries Research 30(3), 253-256.
Gomulka, P., Wlasow, T., Velisek, J., Svobodova, Z., Chmielinska, E., 2008. Effects of eugenol and MS-222 anesthesia on Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii) brandt. Acta Veterinaria Brno 77, 447-453. DOI: 10.2754/avb200877030447
Iranian Fishery Statistics Yearbook. 2019. Sturgeons fishing statistic in southwest Caspian Sea. Statistic and informatique office Iranian fishery, Tehran, 56 p.
IUCN. 2022. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Updated 2 March 2022. Available from: www.iucnredlist.org.
Larijani, M., Amini, K., Bandani, G.A., Behrooz Khooshghalb, M.R., Sharifi, S., Aghilinejad, S.M., 2017. Evaluation and comparison of percent change in species composition and Sturgeon CPUE in 2011and 2012 South coast Caspian Sea, province of Golestan. Iranian Scientific Fisheries Journal 26(1), 203- 207. (In Persian). DOI: 20.1001.1.10261354.1396.26.1.6.3
Moradinasab, A., Akbarzadeh, A., Bahmani, M., Kamrani, E., Haghparast, S., 2019. Stock assessment and Spatial-temporal distribution pattern of Acipenser persicus (Borodin, 1897) and Acipenser stellatus (Pallas, 1771) in the southern of the Caspian Sea. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Hormozgan, Iran. (In Persian)
Morato, T., Alfonso, P., Lourinho, P., Barreiros, J.P., Santos, R.S., Nash, R.D.M., 2001. Length-weight relationship for 21 coastal fish species of the Azores, north-eastern Atlantic. Fisheries Research 50, 297-302. DOI: 10.1016/S0165-7836(00)00215-0
Morshed Enayat, A., Paighambari, S.Y., Zare, P., Aghilinejad, S.M., 2021. Investigation of fishing changes and growth pattern of Acipenser persicus Borodin, 1897 in a ten-year period (2011- 2020) in fishing grounds of Golestan province. Journal of Applied Ichthyological Research 9(4), 1-9. (In Persian). DOI: 10.22034/jair.9.4.1
Mousavi, S., Ghafor, A., 2014. On the conditions impressing Sturgeon fish. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Science 1(4), 1-5.
Ndimele, P.E., Kumolu-Johnson C.A., 2010. Length- weight relationships and condition factors of twenty-one fish species in Ologe Lagoon, Nigeria. Asian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 2(4), 174-179.
Pauly, D., 1984. Fish population dynamics in tropical waters. A manual for use with programmable calculators. ICLARM studies and reviews (Manila), 8, 1-325.
Przybylski, M., 1996. Variation in fish growth characteristics along a river course. Hydrobiologia 325, 39-46. DOI: 10.1007/BF00023666
Raeisi, H., Moradinasab, A., Patimar, R., Kamrani, E., Haghparast, S., 2019. Population dynamic of Acipenser persicus by Monte Carlo simulation model and Bootstrap method in the southern Caspian Sea (Case study: Guilan province). Journal of Applied Ichthyological Rrsearch 7(3), 31-44. (In Persian)
Raischi, M., Deak, G., Oprea, L., Raischi, N., Danalache, T., 2020. 2nd International Conference on Green Environmental Engineering and Technol Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 616 p. DOI: 1088/1755-1315/616/1/011001
Stewart, N.D., Dadswell, M.J., 2015. Age and Growth of Atlantic Sturgeon from the Saint John River, New Brunswick, Canada. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 35, 364-371. DOI: 10.1080/02755947.2015.1011359
Tavakoli, M., Bahmani, M., 2011. Prevalence of Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) in the southern basin of the Caspian Sea by swept area method. Journal of Wetland Ecobiology 3(10), 26-35. (In Persian)
Tavakoli, M., Fazli, H., Moghim, M., Behrooz Khoshghalb, M.R., 2018. Comparing some biological characteristics of two sturgeon species, Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus Borodin, 1897) and Russian sturgeon (A. gueldenstaedtii Brandt & Ratzeburg, 1833) in the Caspian Sea. Iranian Journal of Fisheries Sciences 17(3), 552-563. DOI: 20.1001.1.15622916.2018.17.3.8.0
Tavakoli, M., Parafkandeh Haghighi, F., Behrooz Khoshgalb, M.R., 2013. Sturgeon Stock Assessment in the Iranian Waters of the Caspian Sea Using Swept area Method (2009-2010). Journal of Fisheries (Iranian Journal of Natural Resources) 3, 271-282.‌ (In Persian) DOI: 10.22059/JFISHERIES.2013.35994
Turkmen, M., Akyurt, I., 2000. The population structure and growth properties of Chalcalburnus mossulensis (Heckel, 1843) caught from Askale region of River Karasu. Turkish Journal of Biology 24, 95-111.
Vollestad, L.A., L'Bee-Lund, J.H., 1990. Geographic variation in life-history strategy of female roach Rutilus rutilus (L.). Journal of Fisheries Biology 37, 853-864.
Vosoughi, A., Tenant, b., 2009. Freshwater Fish, University of Tehran Press, Iran. 317 p. (In Persian)
Yimin, Y., Valbo-Jorgensen, J., 2012. Effects of IUU fishing and stock enhancement on and restoration strategies for the stellate sturgeon fishery in the Caspian Sea. Fisheries Research 131-133, 21-29. DOI: 10.1016/j.fishres.2012.06.022