Present Status of Lobster Fishery Industry in Matara, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Though the spiny lobster fishery is one of the most important Fisheries activities in the south coast region of Sri Lanka, there was no information about consumptive intensity of each lobster species and catch per unit effort. However, such information is very important for the development and sustainability of the lobster industry. Therefore, the objectives of the study were to identify the present status of the lobster fishery, to calculate the catch per unit effort and to make recommendations on conservation and management of lobsters. Weligama lobster collection center and landing site was selected as the main information collecting site of this study. According to their attendance, lobster fishermen were numbered and collected information using a questionnaire. The lobster species number of female with eggs, tar spot, craft, gear type and catch/effort were recorded as data on site and analyzed using simple statistical methods. According to the results the sex ratio of the lobster was 1 .08:1 (male: female). The dominant species was Panulirus homarus (70.36% ) while P. polyphagus has completely vanished from the catch. The results revealed that 65% of fishermen used non motorized traditional craft while 35% of fishermen used FRD as the catching method. The types of gear used were bottom set gillnet (69% ) and hoop net (19% ). Out of the total catch 32.25% of lobsters were recorded as the illegal catch and from that 24.27% are under size. The average catch per unit is 0.95 kg/boat/day and 71.84 % of total catch recorded the carapace length between 5.9 cm - 8.4 cm.