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Naganandhini, V.; Muthupandi, K.; Vasanth, K.; Neethiselvan, N.; Padmavathy, P., and Radhakrishnan, K., 2023. Influence of hook number on species composition, catch rate, and size of needlefishes in the Gulf of Mannar, India. Journal of Coastal Research, 39(3), 502–508. Charlotte (North Carolina), ISSN 0749-0208. The contribution of needlefishes from the Gulf of Mannar coast has been remarkable and is presently exploited by pelagic longlines. The J hook is extensively used in longline fishing in the Indian region to capture carnivore fishes, including needlefish. Catch rate significantly differed between the hook numbers. In this context, three hook numbers of 10 J, 11 J, and 12 J were studied from January to May 2022. Results showed that the Ablennes hians was the dominant fish caught (47.9%), followed by Tylosurus crocodiles (22.2%), T. choram (16.6%), and Strongylura strongylura (13.3%); weight-based catches of T. crocodiles (39.7%) were dominantly higher, followed by A. hians (35.9%), T. choram (13.8%), and S. strongylura (10.6%). The two-way ANOVA results revealed that a significant (p <0.05) difference occurred between the hook number and the number of species caught. The largest number of fish were caught with hook number 12 (3769), followed by hook number 11 (2745) and hook number 10 (1445). However, the highest weight of 2749.74 kg was recorded with hook number 11 and the lowest of 1602.65 kg in hook number 10 (p <0.05). This is related to fewer fish caught with hook number 10 and heavy fishing pressure on subadults (<50 cm) due to the use of hook number 12. Considering the maximum total length and weight, the optimum hook number for the commercial exploitation of needlefishes was hook number 11. The catch per unit effort disproportionately increased with the increasing of the hook number; the significant higher contribution of 48.25 individuals/1000 hooks was from hook number 12, whereas hook numbers 11 and 10 were 35.13 individuals/1000 hooks and 18.51 individuals/1000 hooks, respectively.

Vasanth, K.; Muthupandi, K.; Naganandhini, V.; Kumar, M.; Krishnan, A.; Patolla, H., and Radhakrishnan, K., 2023. Effect of J-hook shapes on catch rate, efficiency, and hooking position of Needlefish: Evidence from Palk Bay, India. Journal of Coastal Research, 39(5), 933–939. Charlotte (North Carolina), ISSN 0749-0208. The efficiency of different shapes of J hooks No. 11 (nonoffset straight hook, 10° offset kirbed hook, and 10° offset reversed hook) in needlefish longline fishing gears was studied in 24 fishing grounds in Palk Bay, India, from, February to July 2022. A total of 24 fishing trips were conducted for each experimental gear for the comparative study, with 14,400 hooks, with a total catch of 582 fish during the study. The result was that the kirbed hook had the highest percentage composition of the needlefish (37.36%), followed by the reversed hook (31.79%) and the straight hook (30.75%). Further, the overall hooking rate was higher for the kirbed hook than for the straight hook (13.43% vs. 8.60%). Considering the catch rate, the overall catch per unit effort (CPUE; individual/200 hooks) of the kirbed hook was higher (9.08 vs. 7.45) than that of the straight hook, whereas for the straight hook, the CPUE of nontarget species (0.29) was much higher than that of the kirbed hook (0.12). In terms of the targeted species, the Ablennes hians showed the highest CPUE of 3.78 individuals/200 hooks followed by Tylosurus crocodilus crocodilus (1.78), Strongylura strongylura (1.38); the least dominant CPUE was T. choram (0.94). The percentage of hooking position in the jaw was higher in the kirbed hook than that of the straight hook (64.7% vs. 39.1%) and was found lower in the gut system (11.5% vs. 28.5%). Among the three hook shapes tested, the overall performance of the 10° offset kirbed hook was found to be better than the other 10° offset reversed and nonoffset J hook in terms of a higher catch efficiency, hooking rate, CPUE, and hooking position for needlefish (<0.05).

Vasanth, K.; Muthupandi, K.; Naganandhini, V.; Radhakrishnan, K., and Narayanan, M., 2025. Length-weight relationships of eight pelagic fish species caught by drift longlines in the Gulf of Mannar, India. Journal of Coastal Research, 41(3), 510–515. Charlotte (North Carolina), ISSN 0749-0208. The length-weight relationships were estimated for eight pelagic species caught in the Gulf of Mannar, India, using experimental longlines. The experimental study was conducted from January to October 2022 in fortnightly intervals using longlines (3000 m for needlefish and 11,250 m for carangids), each equipped with 600 “J”-type fishing hooks of various types (straight, reversed, kirbed). The hook numbers used were standard sizes that ranged from 8 to 11 for both groups (needlefish and carangids). The longlines were fabricated with polyamide monofilament and operated from 1 to 2 m depth for needlefish and 20 to 25 m depth for carangids for 3 to 5 hours for both longline units. Overall, 21,150 hooks were deployed in 24 fishing trials for each experimental longline. A maximum total length was recorded for four needlefish species, Strongylura strongylura (80), Tylosurus choram (91), Tylosurus crocodilus (97), and Ablennes hians (96), and four carangids species, Caranx bajad (60.5), Alectis indicus (62), Caranx ignoblis (69), and Scomberomorus commerson (74). In terms of growth, the length-weight relationships revealed positive allometric growth (b >3) for three species of carangids, C. bajad, S. commerson, and A. indicus (p < 0.05) and negative allometric growth (b <3) for four species of needlefishes, T. choram, S. strongylura, T. crocodilus, and A. hians, and one species of carangid, C. ignoblis.

The efficiency of different J hook numbers 7, 8, and 9 in carangid longline fishing gear was studied from January to August 2022. As revealed through the hooking rate, the highest percentage of contribution in terms of number was observed for Alectis indicus (35.6%), Caranx ignobilis (23.3%), C. hippos (17.0%), Scomberoides commersonnianus (13.8%), and Megalaspis cordyla (10.3%). However, an increased percentage contribution when the catch composition was expressed as the basis of weight instead of number for C. ignobilis (35.2%) was dominant, followed by A. indicus (33.7%), C. hippos (11.5%), S. commersonnianus (10.9%), and M. cordyla (8.7%). The result showed that when using hook number 8, the highest percentage compositions of the carangids was 41% followed by hook number 9 and hook number 7, which were 33.4% and 25.6%, respectively, in terms of number basis; the hook size influenced the catch rate of carangids and body weight (p, 0.05). Further, in terms of weight basis, hook number 8 ranked first (43.5%) among the three hook numbers. Considering catch rates, the overall catch per unit effort (individual/1000 hooks) of hook number 8 was 4.31 higher than that of hook numbers 7 and 9. Among the three hook numbers, the overall performance of hook number 8 was found to be better than that of numbers 7 and 9 in terms of higher catch efficiency and catch per unit effort for carangids.