Aspects of the population biology of the buccaneer anchovy Enrasicholina punctifer (Fowler 1938) in Southern Sibuyan Sea, Philippines
Abstract
The buccaneer anchovy Encrasicholina punctifer is one of many commercially important fishes in the Philippines. Fish catch of bag net boats based in Tangalan, Aklan which operate in Sibuyan Sea were monitored from January to December 2008. Monthly E. punctifer length-frequency data were used to estimate growth, mortality, and recruitment using FiSAT II Software. Growth parameters asymptotic length (L∞) and growth constant (K) of the von Bertalanffy growth function were estimated to be 11.96 cm and 1.1 y–1, respectively. Total mortality (Z) was estimated to be 5.75 y–1 while values for fishing mortality (F) and natural mortality (M) were 3.29 and 2.46, respectively. Annual recruitment pattern consisted of one major and one minor pulse, similar to other tropical fish stocks. Exploitation rate (E) was found to be 0.57, which is slightly above the desired value of 0.5. Results obtained in this study provide the first estimates of demographic parameters for the E. punctifer stock in Sibuyan Sea.
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