Author(s): Mona M. S. Al-Qishawe, Thamer S. Ali, Asma A. Abahussain

Abstract: The aim of the study is to provide biological reference points on growth, mortality and other pertinent information on sustainable exploitations required for fisheries management. Length-frequency samples on a monthly basis were recorded from Al-Freya landing site at the Jubail marine wildlife sanctuary, east of Saudi Arabia during the period from April 2012 to January 2013. The FISAT II Program was applied to analyse the length frequency data. The growth results revealed that fish attained the lengths 11, 19, 24, 27 and 29 cm at the end of I, II, III, IV and V years, respectively. The growth parameters obtained were L∞ = 35.38 cm and K= 0.583. The instantaneous rate of total mortality (Z), natural mortality (M) and fishing mortality (F) were 1.95 1.02 and 0.93 respectively, and the exploitation ratio (E) was 0.48 indicating a suitable level of current exploitation in Jubail fisheries. The length at first capture (Lc) was 17.24 cm, which is lower than the length at first maturity (Lm) reported in the Arabian Gulf. The virtual population analysis indicated that the fishing is concentrated mainly on length groups 16–24 cm. The results of yield per recruitment showed that the current exploitation rate of rabbitfish stock in Jubail is slightly lower than the optimum exploitation level. The maximum (Y’/R) could be achieved at length 23.5 cm, representing optimum Lc, which need to be considered as immediate management action to be adopted by Jubail Fisheries Directorate by increasing the current mesh size of drift nets used as part of regulation to maintain sustainable exploitation.

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