Assessment of grouper’s catch, diversity and abundance in Saleh Bay, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Abstract

Abstract Grouper are demersal fishes that can be found in tropical and subtropical waters. In Indonesia, one of the areas where grouper production takes place in Saleh Bay, a semi-enclosed water with small islands, coral reefs and a high diversity. Information’s about the population and abundance of grouper species in Saleh Bay are currently limited. The benefits of this research are to enhance the availability of information on grouper diversity and the area as grouper fishing ground for future improvement on grouper fisheries management in Saleh Bay. Therefore, the study aimed to analyse the diversity, equitability, species richness and dominance index of different grouper species and the grouper fishing ground in this area. The data were obtained from field observations and fish landing data. Grouper caught have been calculated for each fishing gear based on the following parameters: diversity index (Shannon-Wiener), species richness, equitability, and dominance index. The results showed that grouper fishing grounds are spread over Saleh Bay. Fishers caught grouper around small islands with coral reefs. The diversity of grouper for each fishing gear ranged in a moderate category. We found that the bottom longline caught the highest species richness of grouper compare to other fishing gears. The dominance index showed no dominance using each examined fishing gear, or it can be said that grouper species are evenly caught with each fishing gear based on the calculation of the equitability index.