Seasonal trends in the fishery resources off Gujarat: Salient observation using NOAA AVHRR

Thermal features delineated on the sea surface temperature (SST) images wer e used as a tracer to select probable fishing grounds. This paper deals wit h the steps involved in fishery forecast like generation of SST images, ide ntification of potential ground/s, dissemination and some results based on the analysis of feed-back received from the Fisheries Terminal Division (FT D), Veraval, Gujarat State. Catch per unit effort (CPUE) was computed for t hree commercially important species i.e. prawns, squids, ribbon fish. The C PUE was also compared wth features representing the prevailing hydrographic condition observed on the SST image/s. An interanual comparison showed a d istinct pattern of high and low during various seasons. An increase of abou t 38% in notified ground i.e. area of forecast, was observed as compared to unnotified ground.