Science Centres: Fisheries

The fishery resources of the very warm and very salty waters of the southern part of the Persian Gulf are currently being surveyed by a New Zealand-based consortium with a major science input from NIWA.

RV Flinders

ERWDA Director Dr Thabit Abdessalaam and UAE project manager Dr Gary Morgan in Abu Dhabi.

The year-long survey of demersal and small pelagic resources has been commissioned by the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The Agency is coordinating the study on behalf of the fisheries management and conservation organisations of all of the Emirates in UAE.

Random trawl surveys and acoustic surveys are being used in a series of alternate surveys each month between February 2002 and January 2003. The surveys cover an area of 37 000 km² along a 700 km coastline. The project is based on the ex-Western Australian research vessel Flinders. This 21 m ship is set up with twin otter trawls and a Simrad EK60 echo sounder system, with equipment for oceanographic and biological sampling.

Fisheries in UAE are small scale, using a multitude of gears and methods, including beach seine nets for small pelagics, traps (gargour) for bottom and reef fish, and lines for larger pelagics. Trawling is banned as a commercial method. Most fishing is confined to waters less than 40 m deep. Recent reported annual catches are about 100 000 tonnes, harvested by 18 000 fishermen operating 7500 boats.

NIWA staff have been involved in survey design, setting up sampling and data collection systems, ageing of fish, provision of data entry, and trawl survey and acoustic analysis. A series of training sessions and seminars is contributing to the capability of local fisheries research and management staff. Senior technical officers Neil Bagley and Derrick Parkinson have also been stationed for up to two months in the UAE to provide technical support and training. The project takes advantage of the extensive experience in both acoustic and trawl survey techniques that has been developed in New Zealand over the last two decades.

The Gulf is a unique environment with a limited fish fauna adapted to great seasonal oceanographic variability and very high water temperatures and salinities. The survey is beginning to document the seasonal changes in the abundance of many species and is providing the first estimates of fish biomass in the area. The project team are also investigating the population dynamics of eight of the key commercial species, including studies of growth, mortality rates, and reproductive biology.