Fishery status of Carangoides bajad and Caranx melampygus (Family Carangidae) from Shalateen Fishing Area, Red Sea, Egypt, based on yield per recruit (Y/R) analysis

The fishery status of two carangid species; Carangoides bajad and Caranx melampygus from Shalateen fishing area, Red Sea, Egypt has been evaluated. Yield per recruit of the two species as a function of different values of fishing mortality coefficient, age at first capture and natural mortality coefficient was estimated. For C. bajad it is found that, the current fishing mortality coefficient (1.34 / y), age at first capture (0.35 y) and natural mortality coefficient (0.34 / y) give a yield of (304.8 g) per recruit. While for C. melampygus, the current fishing mortality coefficient (1.75 / y), age at first capture (0.35 y) and natural mortality coefficient (0.25 / y) give a yield of (675.63 g) per recruit. Yield per recruit for C. bajad and C. melampygus showed that, the maximum (Y/R) was obtained at Fmax = 0.5 and 0.8 for C. bajad and C. melampygus respectively. For management purposes, the fishing mortality which is related to the fishing effort of C. bajad and C. melampygus should be reduced by at least 50% as well as the length at first capture which is related to the mesh size should be raised to the length at first maturity to maintain this valuable fishery.