How Long Does It Take For Tropical Marine Fish Stocks To Recover After Declines? Case Studies From The Southwest Coast Of India

The depletion/collapse and recovery of tropical marine fish stocks have been studied by deriving the time-series of stock status of commercially fished marine species in Karnataka. Majority of stocks (22 out of 47) showed wide fluctuations in catch whereas 15 stocks were dwindling. This analysis of catch trends (as a simple proxy for biomass estimates) shows that, in spite of consistently increasing efforts and absence of many regulatory measures, most species (66%) had fast recovery capacity within 1-5 years whereas 9% were slow to recover. The depleted and declining stocks need to be carefully monitored and conservation and rebuilding plans need to be made.