Biological aspects of Kilka (Age, Growth,Feeding and Reproduction) in Southern of Caspian Sea

Abstract

In the changing environmental of the Caspian Sea specifically pelagic zone following the introduction of the comb jelly Mnemiopsis leidyi has been continued ,particularly kilka catch ,biological characteristic and feeding . In this investigation which had been done in commercial catch regions ( where discharged theirs catch) in three ports Babolsar ,Amirabad (in Mazandaran) and Anzali (in Guilan ), estimated catch and catch per unit effort , the age structure of catch ,length- weight relationship , von Bertalanffy growth parameters , condition factor ,sex ratios ,maturity stags ,age at first capture and spawning and feeding .The result shown that catch of kilka in Iranian coastal in 2006 decreased from 22300 ton to 16700 ton in 2008.But CPUE increased from1.7 ton (Vessel ×Night) to 2.5 ton at that time due to dropped effort .The length frequency of kilka is close and the juvenile fish did not see in catch as increased the length mean (P>0.000).The age frequency had the same situation as fish low than 2 years did not see for anchovy and bigeye ,so collapse juvenile stock cause poor recruitment in the species .The parameters of the von Bertalanffy growth curve were For common kilka L∞= 136.5mm k= 0.249y t0= 1.890y Q= 3.883; For bigeye kilka L∞= 131.7mm k= 0.346 t0= 1.123y Q= 3.688; And for anchovy kilka L∞= 148mm k= 0.375 t0= 1.243y Q= 3.814 The exploitation rate of anchovy, bigeye and common kilka were 0.51, 0.58 and 0.6 respectively. The highest of GSI recorded in May and March for common and bigeye and in Jul, Nov for anchovy kilka .Main prey was Acartia tonsa by anchovy and common kilka and Cypris balanus by bigeye kilka. We concluded that the ecological problem causes by Mnemiopsis leidyi as well as overfishing has been collapsed kilka stocks, particularly anchvy.so sustainable fisheries management and conservation biodiversity in the Caspian Sea are real challenges now.