FISHERIES AND THE BY-CATCH OF THE SHRIMP BEACH SEINE IN EL-MALAHA LAKE, PORT- SAID, EGYPT

The present study indicated that 400 fishermen work during the fishing season in EI-Malaha Lake; most of them are from Port-Said. The average annual catch in the period from 1995 to 2004 constituted 149.817 tones/year. During 2003/2004 the catch composition was represented by 16 species belong to 11 families; Sparidae and Mugilidae were the most dominants families, represented by 44.66% and 26.74% respectively and the catch per unit boat was 282.3Kg / boat.The by - catch of the beach seine operating in EI-Malaha Lake during the period from July 2003 till June 2004 was analyzed. The amount of by-catch was about 3-6 Kg per haul (30%) of the total landing beach seine catches. The by - catch was classified into three groups; juveniles of the commercial fishes (98.72%), low value small size fish species (1%) and 0.28% of non edible trash fish. The catch composition was classified into 25 species belonging to 13 families. Among these 7 species are Red Sea origin, whereas 18 species are Mediterranean Sea origin. The most dominant species were Siganus rivulatus, Sardinella aurita, Sardinella maderensis, Rhabdosargus haffara, Aleps djedaba and Solea vulgaris constituting 65.5% of the total by - catch