Assessing of Pontic Shad (Alosa immaculata, Bennett 1835) Stock Status from Romanian Black Sea Coast

Abstract

With the growth of the human population, the need for food resources increases, so the pressure on living marine resources also increases. In addition to this aspect, the Black Sea ecosystem during recent decades suffered changes that determined the deterioration of all components of the marine ecosystem, which had direct impact on decreasing the biological diversity and productivity, affecting the quality of life and ecological balance. The species Alosa immaculata (Bennet, 1835) - Pontic shad is of high commercial value and with an important role in the livelihoods of many local communities across the Black Sea coast. However, the status of Pontic shad fisheries is unknown, mainly because is a status of data-poor fish stocks. Thus, growth parameters were determined in a total of 783 individuals with a biomass of 194.5 kg from 9 fishing points of the Romanian Black Sea Coast. For the estimated parameters of length-weight relation the combined data and sexes have been used, coefficient of determination (r²) was 0.794 and b value 2.879. A negative allometric growth has been observed for the species where b<3. The virtual population analysis (VPA) by lengths was performed using the FISAT II software. Catch data previously determined were used to apply the model: length class frequency set, coefficients a=0.0134 (2021) and b=2.879 (2021) of the length-weight relationship, natural mortality M=1.12/year, L∞=37.8, k=0.87/year. The main aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the current status and trends of this valuable resource.