Distribution, Abundance and Sustainable Yield of Cobia Rachycentron canadum (Linnaeus 1766) Occurring in Indian Waters

Cobia Rachycentron canadum (Linnaeus 1766) is distributed widely in tropical and subtropical waters except in the eastern Pacific and the Pacific plate. Information on the distribution and abundance of cobia in Indian waters are limited. Results of the present study provided first hand information on the spatio-temporal distribution and biomass of the cobia along the east and west coast of India. Exploratory fishing data collected by the resource survey vessels along both east and west coasts for a period of January 1980 to December 2007 were utilised for this study. Results revealed that cobia occur along both east and west coast of India and are abundant along the northern latitudes of both coasts. Bathymetrically, they were caught between 33-229 m and found to be more abundant in near shore waters i.e. depth zone 30-50 m. Results of the present study indicated that cobia were caught along both east and west coast throughout the year. The present study estimated the potential yield of cobia from Indian waters as 798.66 tonnes.