Optimized exploitation of Pharaoh Cuttlefish (Sepia pharaonis Ehrenberg, 1831) stocks in the Iranian part of Persian Gulf and Oman Sea

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the trends in Pharaoh Cuttlefish ( Sepia pharaonis ) capture fisheries and determine the suitable range for optimized exploitation of S. pharaonis resources in the Iranian part of Persian Gulf and Oman Sea using catch data. The data on Pharaoh Cuttlefish capture fisheries in Iranian southern waters for the twenty-three years was collected and the suitable range for optimized exploitation of S. pharaonis was estimated using the R Software. The average values (95% confidence interval) using the Monte Carlo simulation method for intrinsic population growth rate (r), maximum sustainable yield (MSY), the biomass of maximum sustainable yield (Bmsy) and maximum fishing mortality rate of maximum sustainable yield (Fmsy) were 0.92 (0.73-1.17) per year, 5100 (4200-6200) tons, 1100 (8670-13900) tons, 0.46 (0.36-0.58) per year, respectively. The results showed that the annual catch of S. pharaonis exceeded the maximum sustainable yields and measures should be taken to reduce the number of capture fisheries and fishing effort. With results of the prediction model was observed moving average analysis (MAPE=2.85, MAD=0.10, MSD=0.02) and ARIMA (0, 0, 1) (AIC=9.79, BIC=6.38), are better than other models for a period of five years for modeling annual this species landing. It seems that reducing fishing permits and fishing effort will put the S. pharaonis stock situation in a more favorable condition in the long term and will further benefit the exploiters and the fishing community.