76 



Fishery Bulletin 104(1) 



V ^ - ,^ 



Figure 1 



Study site (stippled area) showing the location of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, off the coast of 

 which data were collected for the painted sweetlips iDiagramtna pictum) and spangled emperor 

 iLethrinus nehulosus) from commercial catches. 



average of 210 traps each. Collection of catch-and-effort 

 data for the fisheries of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in the 

 United Arab Emirates was initiated in 2001. However, 

 many species, including D. pictum and L. nebulosus, 

 are recorded to the family level, and therefore the use 

 of statistical catch-at-age methods can not be used for 

 conducting assessments at the species level. Landings 

 of haemulids (predominantly D. pictum) and lethrinids 

 (predominantly L. nebulosus), totaled 719 and 2911 

 metric tons, respectively, in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi 

 during 2003 (Grandcourt et al.M. Despite the limited 

 time scale for which catch and effort data are available, 

 there has been an overall increase in fishing effort and 

 catches since 2001. 



Many of the fish populations in the Arabian Gulf have 

 been heavily exploited (Samuel et al., 1987), and fishing 

 effort may have already been above optimum levels for 

 most demersal species (Siddeek et al., 1999). The expan- 

 sion of the fishing fleet of the United Arab Emirates and 

 the lack of appropriate data on most stocks underscore 

 the need to assess the fisheries resources of the region. 

 The goal of this study was to evaluate the status of £1. 

 pictum and L. nebulosus and to provide biological refer- 



Grandcourt, E. M., F. Francis, A. Al Shamsi, K. Al Ali, and 

 S. Al Ali. 2004. Annual fisheries statistics for Abu Dhabi 

 Emirate 2003, 87 p. Environmental Research and Wildlife 

 Development Agency, P.O. Box 45553, Government of Abu 

 Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. 



ence points and other pertinent information required for 

 management. Specific objectives included establishing 

 key demographic parameters by using validated age 

 estimates, identifying reproductive characteristics and 

 conducting yield-per-recruit analyses for the selected 

 study species. 



Materials and methods 



Study site and sampling protocol 



Size-frequency data were collected from commercial 

 catches made off the coast of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi 

 in the United Arab Emirates (Fig. 1) between September 

 2000 and March 2003. Fish were selected at random 

 from landings and fork length (Lp) was recorded to the 

 nearest cm by using a measuring board. Monthly target 

 sample sizes were 500 individuals per species. 



Biological data was collected from specimens pur- 

 chased from commercial catches between June 2002 and 

 May 2003. Samples were obtained from 30 individuals 

 of each species from a representative size range during 

 the last week of each month. Standard length (Lg), fork 

 length (Lp), and total length (L.j.) were recorded to the 

 nearest mm by using a measuring board. Whole wet 

 weight was measured with an electronic balance and 

 recorded to the nearest g. The sex of a fish was deter- 

 mined by macroscopic examination of the gonad, which 



