Assessment of Finfish Diversity along the Chorwad Coast, Gujarat, India

The coastline of Gujarat is 1,600 km long and salt marshes, sand-belts and gravel patches mark the topography. The present study on Finfish diversity along the Chorwad coast, Gujarat. During the study, 60 different marine finfish species were collected belonging to 15 orders, 35 families and 51 genera were recorded from November 2023 to October 2024. Carangiformes was found to be the dominant order (18%, 11 species) followed by Clupiformes (15%, 9 species), Eupercaria (11%, 7 species), Pleuronectiformes (10%, 6 species), Scombriformes (10%, 6 species), and Siluriformes (7%, 4 species). The highest number of species was reported from the Carangidae (9 species) family. Out of 60 species, 42 species were categorized as Least Concern (LC), 10 species were Not Evaluated (NE), 5 species were Data Deficient (DD), 1 species were Near Threatened (NT) and 2 species were Vulnerable (VU) as per IUCN Red List Status. During the study, the highest monthly availability was observed for Rastrelliger kanagurta throughout all months with peaks during January (5.19%) and February (4.93%). The highest numbers of individuals were found during the November, December, January and February months respectively. The seasonal species abundance revealed maximum abundance in the Winter season (61%). This present study information on the diversity and abundance of Finfish based on month and seasonal landing serves as a crucial baseline for future research on fisheries management, conservation efforts, and assessing the ecological impact of gill netting in the studied region.