KISSIL, G. W. 



1974. Spawning of the anadromous alewife, Alosa 

 pseudoharengus, in Bride Lake, Connecticut. Trans. 

 Am. Fish. Soc. 103:312-317. 

 MARCY, B. C, JR. 



1969. Age determinations from scales of Alosa 

 pseudoharengus (Wilson) and Alosa aestivalis (Mitchill) 

 in Connecticut waters. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 98:622- 

 630. 

 RIDEOUT, 8. G. 



1974. Population estimate, movement, and biological 

 characteristics of anadromous alewives (Alosa 

 pseudoharengus Wilson) utilizing the Parker River, Mas- 

 sachusetts in 1971-1972. M.S. Thesis, Univ. Mas- 

 sachusetts, Amherst, 183 p. 

 SAILA, S. B., T. T. POLGAR, D. J. SHEEHY, and J. M. FLOWERS. 

 1972. Correlations between alewife activity and environ- 

 mental variables at a fishway. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 

 101:583-594. 



David a. LmBV 



Maine Department of Marine Resources 

 West Boothbay Harbor, ME 04575 



(Kuronuma and Abe 1972). The total quantity of 

 fish sold in Kuwait market in 1976 was 4,452 t as 

 estimated by the Kuwait Ministry of Planning 

 (Anonymous 1977). In a recent survey of the fish 

 consumption of local populations in Kuwait, Afzal 

 and Hay at (1977) reported that the consumption of 

 fish in Kuwait is fairly high and that a majority of 

 respondents had no clear idea about the nutritive 

 value of fish. It was emphasized that a program 

 was necessary to disseminate such information. 



With the exception of the work of Das et al. 

 (1976) on a few fishes from Shatt Al-Arab and the 

 Arabian Gulf, nothing seems to have appeared on 

 nutritional values of Arabian Gulf fishes. Here we 

 report on the proximate composition and nutritive 

 value of some of the important food fishes from 

 Kuwait for use of consumers, dieticians, and the 

 fishing industry. 



Methods 



PROXIMATE COMPOSITION AND NUTRITIVE 



VALUE OF SOME IMPORTANT FOOD FISHES FROM 



THE ARABIAN GULF 



The unique value of fish for supplementing the 

 nutritional qualities of man's diet, as also for ani- 

 mal feeding, is well recognized. Literature on the 

 composition and calorie value offish reported from 

 various parts of the world is exhaustive. Love 

 (1970), Sidwell et al. (1973, 1974), Bonnet et al. 

 (1974), Stansby (1976), Sidwell, Loomis, Loomis, 

 Foncannon, and Buzzell (1978), and Sidwell, 

 Loomis, Foncannon, and Buzzell (1978) have pro- 

 vided good reviews on the subject. 



The Arabian Gulf countries, including Kuwait, 

 have rich fish faunas and Kuwait with a coastline 

 of about 140 km, has at least 131 fish species in 64 

 families which are taken in commercial trawls 



The study was based on fish samples obtained 

 from the local fish market. These are caught by 

 shrimp trawlers and dhow boats operating in the 

 Arabian Gulf. For each species, fresh specimens 

 representing the common marketable size were 

 selected (Table 1). Analysis used minced muscle 

 from the trunk portion of each individual from 

 which skin and all bony elements had been re- 

 moved. Standard methods of chemical analysis 

 were used (Horwitz 1975). Gross energy content 

 was calculated from the mean values of fat, pro- 

 tein, and carbohydrate following equivalents as 

 used by Jafri et al. (1964). All samples were taken 

 during November and December 1978. 



Results 



Most of the fishes were found to be fairly high in 

 protein content. The maximum value (22.6%) was 

 observed in the barred Spanish mackerel whereas 



Table l. — Average proximate composition ( ± standard error of the mean) and energy content of some important food fishes 



sampled in November and December 1978 from the Arabian Gulf. 



Species 



No. 



Total length 

 (cm) 



Protein 



(%) 



Fat 



(%) 



Moisture 



(%) 



Ash 



(%) 



Energy 

 (cal/100g) 



Spotted Spanish mackerel. Scomberomorus guttatus 



Barred Spanish mackerel. S commersoni 



Silvery croakef, Otolithus argenteus 



Four-thread threadfin, Eleuttieronema tetradactylum 



Silvery grunt, Pomadasys argenteus 



Silvery pomfret, Pampas argenteus 



Mullet, Liza macrolepis 



Yellow finned black porgy, Acanthopagrus latus 



Crimson snapper, Lutjanus coccineus 



Brovi^n-spotted grouper, Epinephelus tauvina 



FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 79, NO. 1, 198L 



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