Size Distribution, Length-Weight Relationship, and Catch per Unit Effort of Frigate Tuna, Auxis thazard (Lacepède, 1800) in Tawi-Tawi Waters, Southern Philippines, Caught Using Multiple Handline

Jaro Ajik,Albaris Tahi̇luddi̇n

doi:10.33714/masteb.974182

Abstract

Frigate tuna Auxis thazard (Lacepède, 1800) is the most dominant species caught by the multiple handline in the coastal and offshore fishing grounds of Tawi-Tawi, southern Philippines. In this study, we investigated the size distribution, length-weight relationship, and catch per unit effort of frigate tuna (A. thazard) in Tawi-Tawi waters, southern Philippines, caught using multiple handline. A total of 383 frigate tuna fish were sampled with a size distribution (total length) ranging from 16.5 to 34 cm. The length-weight relationship of frigate tuna was W=8×10-3×TL3.139, where the b value of 3.139 indicates a positive allometric growth pattern. The catch per unit effort of the used gear was 2.49±0.52 kg/hr.

Highlights

Frigate tuna, Auxis thazard (Lacepède, 1800), is a pelagicneritic tuna species that belongs to the Scombridae family, which is distributed globally both in tropical and subtropical waters (Liu, 2008; Tao et al, 2012)
We investigated the size distribution, length-weight relationship, and catch per unit effort of frigate tuna (A. thazard) in Tawi-Tawi waters, southern Philippines, caught using multiple handline
Our results are parallel to the study of Tampubolon et al (2016), where they reported that the highest size distribution of frigate tuna ranged from 26 to 31 cm sampled from West Coast Sumatera, Eastern Indian Ocean

Summary

Introduction

Auxis thazard (Lacepède, 1800), is a pelagicneritic tuna species that belongs to the Scombridae family, which is distributed globally both in tropical and subtropical waters (Liu, 2008; Tao et al, 2012). This species is highly migratory, thrives in the marine waters with 50 m depth with an optimum temperature ranging from 27 to 28 °C (Maguire et al, 2006; Herrera & Pierre, 2009). Numerous studies conducted in different parts of the world oceans revealed that this tuna species showed positive allometric growth (Ghosh et al, 2012; Tampubolon et al, 2016; Mariyasingarayan et al, 2018; Mudumala et al, 2018; Petukhova, 2019; Lelono & Bintoro, 2019; Herath et al, 2019)

Methods

Results

Conclusion