Investigation of natural habitats of pearl oyster Pinctada radiata around the Lavan Island, northern Persian Gulf

Mohar pearl oyster Pinctada radiata is the dominant economic species of pearl oyster in the Persian Gulf, particularly along the Iranian coastal waters. As pearling has been banned since 2006, stocks of pearl oysters has not been investigated during these years. For this purpose, conditions of natural habitats and stocks of Mohar pearl oyster in its old catch sites were surveyed in the present study. Shallow waters around the Lavan island were searched through diving and two habitats of Mohar pearl oyster, namely Lavan No. 1 (Dardoor) and Lavan No. 2 (Hedabad), were detected. Area of Dardoor and Hedabad habitats was calculated equal to 60 and 15 ha, respectively and Mohar pearl oysters had the highest distribution in depth ranges of 7 to 12 m and 5 to 11 m, respectively. Total stocks of Dardoor and Hedabad habitats was surveyed about 357000 and 61500 pearl oysters of which 11% and 17% of oysters were catchable, respectively. Catch per unit of area in Dardoor and Hedabad habitats was estimated equal to 0.6 N/m2 and 0.4 N/m2 and catch per unit of effort was calculated equal to 119 N/hr and 82 N/hr, respectively. Biomass rate in these habitats was obtained equal to 4620 and 1163 kg, respectively. Results of this research revealed that the area, the amount of stocks and catch per unit of area of habitats has decrease in the recent years. Although the pearling has been banned in this region in the past seven years, restocking has been conducted slowly.