STUDY OF RIBBONFISH, Trichiurus lepturus OFF MAHARASHTRA COAST, INDIA

The ribbonfishes (Family-Trichiuridae) are thin, long, ribbon-like fishes, that constitute a major share of marine catches of India. They are also known as cutlass fishes due to their extremely compressed and double-edged sword like body. Although primarily consumed locally in fresh condition or used as popular baits in hook and line for capturing larger fishes like seerfish, ribbonfishes were not given much attention by the fishermen. But they are regularly exported in sun dried or salt-cured condition as well as in frozen condition to more than 30 countries around the world from India. Attempts are being made to use this fish as a source of raw material for surimi processing in India. Further, there is an increasing demand for the cosmetics made from their skin and pearl essence obtained from their body. All these have not only affected the overall fishery of ribbonfishes as a whole but also necessitated important modifications in the basic designs, constructions and mode of operations of gear and craft used for their exploitation, which are the basis of the study presented in this book.