Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 71 (5), 797-804 (2005)

Catch and distribution of young-of-the-year ocellate puffer Takifugu rubripes in Ariake Sound

YASUHARU MATSUMURA*

Nagasaki Prefectural Institute of Fisheries, Nagasaki 851-2213, Japan

To estimate the amount of catches in number, weight and cash value of young-of-the-year (YOY) ocellate puffer Takifugu rubripes in Ariake Sound from September to December, an investigation on the basis of catch statistics at the landing markets from 1991 to 1995 and from 1999 to 2002 was conducted. Annual catches ranged from 21,000 to 88,000 in number; from 3.1 to 20.0 tons in weight and from 8 to 47 million yen in sales. The majority of the catches was brought in by angling fishery and longline fishery. Catch information obtained by a questionnaire survey of fishermen during the fishing season in 1995 showed that YOY are distributed in inshore regions of less than 10 m depth in September, at 5-20 m depth in October by migration to offshore, and inshore off Shimabara city from November to December by migration to the south. Annual change of CPUE of YOY in Ariake Sound showed a wide fluctuation from 4 to 26 kg boat·day and the same tendency as those in Yatsushiro Sea and Fukuoka Bay.


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