How Long Does it Take for Tropical Marine Fish Stocks to Recover after Declines?Case Studies from the Southwest Coast of India

Abstract

The depletion/collapse and recovery of tropical
\nmarine fish stocks have been studied by deriving the
\ntime-series of stock status of commercially fished
\nmarine species in Karnataka. Majority of stocks (22
\nout of 47) showed wide fluctuations in catch whereas
\n15 stocks were dwindling. This analysis of catch
\ntrends (as a simple proxy for biomass estimates) shows
\nthat, in spite of consistently increasing efforts and
\nabsence of many regulatory measures, most species
\n(66%) had fast recovery capacity within 1–5 years
\nwhereas 9% were slow to recover. The depleted and
\ndeclining stocks need to be carefully monitored and
\nconservation and rebuilding plans need to be made.