Spatial and temporal distribution pattern and biomass trend of Nemipteridae family in the Oman Sea

Nemipterid fishes are considered as one of the commercial fish family having considerable catch amount in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea. There was an annual monitoring survey during 2003-2013 in the Oman Sea using a research bottom trawler for stock assessment purposes. The whole area was stratified into five strata (or sub region) and four depth layers of 10-20, 20-30, 30-50, 50-100 m. The results showed that the best fishing ground for this family were both in western and eastern study area of the Oman Sea, Sistan-o-Baluchistan Province. Amongst five classified sub regions, the Meidani, Galak, Rabech and Biahi in the western part showing the most density with CPUA value of 293.7 kg/km2. A comparison between different covered depth layers, it was found that the highest CPUA (331.2 kg/km2) belonged to the depths more than 30 m and with decreasing depth there was a descending trend in catch per unit area value with the lowest value for 10-20 m depths (28.6 kg/km2). This 10 years data show the important finding of increasing of density and catch per unit of area of Nemipterid fishes.