Bull 155 BULLETIN OF THE IRAQ NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Al-Shamary and Younis Bull. Iraq nat. Hist. Mus. (2022) 17 (2): 155-167. https://doi.org/10.26842/binhm.7.2022.17.2.0155 ORIGINAL ARTICLE STATUS OF COMMERCIAL FISH CATCH IN THE IRAQI MARINE WATERS, ARABIAN GULF Ahmed Ch. Al-Shamary* and Kadhim H. Younis Marine Science Center, University of Basrah, Basrah, Iraq Corresponding author e-mail:a_kaseb@yahoo.com* Received Date: 06 April 2021, Accepted Date: 15 Aug.2022, Published Date: 20 December 2022 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ABSTRACT Commercial fish catch in the Iraqi marine waters from December 2018 to December 2019 was investigated. The study is based on three stations: the first station is located at the Shatt Al-Arab estuary, the second represents the area between the Shatt Al-Arab Estuary and open marine waters, and the third is associated with the Iraqi territorial marine waters. The total weight of the catch was 1881 kg, represented by 500, 654, and 727 kg in the first, second and third stations respectively. The third station was the highest with a majority of the family Sciaenidae by 464 kg, while the lowest was the family Scombridae by 0.5 kg. The total number of species included 37 species, belonging to 27 genera, 19 families, and 6 orders, the largest order represented by a high number of species was the Perciformes and the lowest versatile orders were Oreclotiformes, Nemipterideaformes and Scombridaeformes; while the order Scorpaeniformes was found by only one species. Keywords: Arabian Gulf, Commercial catch, Marine water, Sciaenidae, Scombridae. INTRODUCTION Many species' abundance and distribution are subjected to significant fluctuations in the marine ecosystem which consider one of the most important responsibilities (Laevastu and Larkins, 1981).The Iraqi coastal waters occupy the northwest region of the Arabian Gulf, which comprises the estuary area of the Gulf. Iraq has a short coastal territory, with a coastline of 105 km², a continental shelf of 1034 km², and territorial waters of 716 km² (Al- Shamary, 2021). The Iraqi marine environments in Iraqi waters are quite different from those in other parts of the Arabian Gulf; the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers forms the Shatt Al- Arab River, representing the major freshwater discharge into the Northwest Arabian Gulf. Shatt Al- Arab River and its associated marshes are potential sources of nutrients and organics in the northwestern Arabian Gulf (Al-Yamani et al., 2007; Al-Mudaffar and Mahdi, 2014). Seas and oceans are important sources of protein food, with fish accounting for roughly 20% of global protein consumption (Kuronuma and Abe, 1986; Al-Mansy, 1999). In the Arabian BULLETIN OF THE IRAQ NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Iraq Natural History Research Center & Museum, University of Baghdad https://jnhm.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/BINHM/Home Copyright © Bulletin of the Iraq Natural History Museum Online ISSN: 2311-9799-Print ISSN: 1017-8678 https://doi.org/10.26842/binhm.7.2022.17.2.0155 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2115-3255 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3741-0102 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://jnhm.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/BINHM/Home 156 BULLETIN OF THE IRAQ NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Status of commercial fish catch Gulf, more than 465 species of fish have been identified, all of which belong to the Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes. (Eagderi et al., 2019), Previously studies on the composition of fish catch, particularly commercial ones, had been conducted by Mohamed (1993) concerning the composition of fish in marine waters, where the percentage of commercial fish was found to be 28.3%. Mohamed et al. (1995) collected 86 marine fish species belonging to 46 families. Resen (2006) reported that commercial fish accounted for 48% of the total catch. Younis and Al-Shamary (2015) estimated the commercial catch by 71.6%. On the other hand a total of 214 species in 75 families was identified by Al-Faisal and Mutlak (2018). Abood (2018) investigated the structure and the fish community's distribution in the Shatt Al-Arab estuary, indicating that the commercial catch constituted 96.2%. Ali et al. (2018) compiled a list of 322 species belonging to 94 families recorded in the Iraqi marine waters from 1874 to 2018, Mohamed and Abood (2020) collected 35 species representing 18 families of the artisanal catch. While Al-Shamary et al. (2021) pointed out that the commercial catch in the Iraqi marine waters formed approximately 33.74% of the total catch. The present paper aims to determine the spatial variation of the total catch and the commercial catch along the Shatt Al-Arab Estuary and the Iraqi marine waters. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study area Iraq's marine waters are located in the Arabian Gulf's far northwest corner. Three study stations with a distance of 15-20 km between them were chosen; station one represents Shatt Al-Arab Estuary and is constrained by location. (29 ° 54'15.93 "N; 48 ° 41'15.62" E), (29 ° 54'15.84 "N; 48 ° 37'24.24" E), (29 ° 50' 44.04 "N; 48 ° 41'15.51" E), (29 ° 50'44.12 "N; 48 ° 37'24.38" E), and (29 ° 50'44.12 "N; 48 ° 37'24.38; this station has a 15-meter depth and an alluvial mud deposit on the bottom. Station two, which is located at (29 ° 50'17.98 "N; 48 ° 43'53.28" E), (29 °; 48 ° 43'53.16 "E), includes the area between the impacts of the Shatt Al- Arab estuary and open marine waters. The bottom of this station is rocky, with dept. The station three coordinates (29 ° 43'33.41 "N; 48 ° 43'43.46 "E), (29 ° 43'33.38 "N; 48 ° 49'34.85 "E), (29 ° 40'04.13 "N; 48 ° 43'43.39 "E), and (29 ° 40'04.02 "N; 48 ° 49'34.96 "E) define the marine waters, it has a depth of over 20 m (Map 1). Fish collection and identification As a part of a general fish survey of the region, fishing-survey boats Anwar 2 (16 m length, 4.5 m width, and 2 m draft) with a horsepower of 150 horses were used to collect fish from the three study stations; each boat is equipped with a 5x5 cm mesh trawl net and a 3x3 cm mesh bag. The net pull rope is 75-100 meters in length. The net was pulled for three hours. Fish were caught monthly for a year from December 2018 to December 2019, and identified according to Kuronuma and Abe (1986), Carpenter et al. (1997), and Froese and Pauly (2018). Data analyses The abundance of fauna raw data, represented by a sum of triplicates for each species at each station, was used to calculate several diversity indices, the following indices were calculated: 157 BULLETIN OF THE IRAQ NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Al-Shamary and Younis A number of species {S}: The total number of species in each replicate specimen, which indicates the number of species in an ecosystem. Relative abundances are not used in this index. Number of individuals {N}: Total number of individuals in each replicate specimen. Each fish species' numerical relative abundance was calculated using the formula developed by Odum (1970): (ni / N) * 100 = relative abundance (percentage) ni = The number of species found in each month's sample N = Total number of individuals in the monthly sample. Map (1): The sampling sites of the study area. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The collected from Iraqi marine waters in the present study amounted to 2152 tons, including 564 kg in the first station, 700 kg in the second station, and 888 kg in the third station, while the total commercial catch was 1881tons, equivalent to 87.4% of the total catch, including 500 kg in the first station, 654 kg in the second station and 727 kg in the third station, Diagram (1) shows the monthly changes in the total and commercial catch, which amounted to 90, 100, and 94 kg in December in the first station and March in the second and third stations respectively. The lowest total catch was (15) kg in February at the first station and 10 kg in January for the second and third stations respectively, while the highest commercial catch was 67 kg in December at the first station, 77 kg in March at the second station, and 71 kg in June at the third station and the lowest commercial catch (7, 8 and 4) kg in January in the three stations respectively. 158 BULLETIN OF THE IRAQ NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Status of commercial fish catch Seasonal changes have an impact on fishing rates and fish stocks, and the scarcity of water entering the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab estuary has resulted in a change in the marine environment as a result of climatic changes, resulting in a lack of fish stocks for some species, according to Eaqderi et al. (2019). While, the annual fishing quantities from 2014 to 2017 totaled (5553, 3391, 3992, and 3399) tons respectively. Qasim's study in (2021) disagrees with the present study in that an annual catch of 2152 tons was recorded in 2019. Diagram (1): Total and commercial catches of the Iraqi marine waters on a monthly basis. There are also 37 commercial species belonging to 27 genera, 19 families, and 6 orders, with the Sciaenidae family having the most commercial species (6 species), followed by the Sparidae and Mugilidae families with four species, as shown in (Tab.1). Table (1): Species, genera, families, and orders of commercial marine fishes of the present study. Orders Families Genera Species P e rc ifo rm e s Sciaenidae Argyrosomus Argyrosomus hololepidotus (Lacepède, 1801) Otolithes Otolithes ruber (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Protonibae Protonibea diacanthus (Lacepède, 1802) Johnius Johnius belangerii (Cuvier, 1830) Johnius dussumieri (Cuvier, 1830) Johnius maculatus Bloch & Schneider, 1801 Sparidae Acanthopagrus Acanthopagrus arabicus Iwatsuki, 2013 Acanthopagrus berda (Forsskål, 1775) Acanthopagrus bifasciatus(Forsskål, 1775) P e rc ifo rm e s Crenidens Crenidens crenidens (Forsskål, 1775) Stromateidae Pampus Pampus argenteus (Euphrasen, 1788) Carangidae Scombreoides Scomberoides commersonianus Lacepède, 1801 Serranidae Epinephelus Epinephelus tauvina (Forsskål, 1775) Epinephelus areolatus (Forsskål, 1775) 0 20 40 60 80 100 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec k g Months S1 Total catch S1 commercial S2 Total catch S2 commercial S3 Total catch S3 commercial 159 BULLETIN OF THE IRAQ NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Al-Shamary and Younis Haemulidae Pomadasys Pomadasys kaakan (Cuvier, 1830) Diagramma Diagramma pictum (Thunberg, 1792) Lethrinidae Lethrinus Lethrinus borbonicus Valenciennes, 1830 Scombridae Scomberomorus Scomberomorus guttatus (Bloch & Schneider,1801) Nemipteridae Nemipterus Nemipterus japonicus (Bloch, 1791) Scombridae Scomberomorus Scomberomorus commerson (Lacepède, 1800) A n g u llifo rm e s Clupeidae Anodontostoma Anodontostoma chacunda (Hamilton, 1822) Nematalosa Nematalosa nasus (Bloch, 1795) Tenualosa Tenualosa ilisha (Hamilton, 1822) M u g ilifo rm e s Mugilidae Planiliza Planiliza klunzingeri (Day, 1888) planiliza carinata (Valenciennes, 1836) Mugil Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, 1758 C lu p e ifo rm e s Pristigasteridae Ilisha Ilisha melastoma (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Ilisha compressa Randall, 1994 Engraulidae Thryssa Thryssa whiteheadi Wongratana, 1983 Thryssa dussumieri (Valenciennes, 1848) Chirocentridae Chirocentrus Chirocentrus dorab (Forsskål, 1775) P le u ro n e c tifo rm e s Cynoglossidae Cynoglossus Cynoglossus arel (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Cynoglossus kopsii (Bleeker, 1851) Soleidae Solea Solea elongata Day, 1877 Solea stanalandi Randall & McCarthy, 1989 Bothidae Arnoglossus Arnoglossus aspilos (Bleeker,1851) S c o rp a e n ifo rm e s Platycephalidae Platycephalus Platycephalus indicus (Linnaeus, 1758) This result differs from that of Al-Shamary et al. (2020) who obtained 20 commercial species in the year 2018. The present study also shows that the Sciaenidae family has a total weight of 464 kg divided into (186, 156, and 122) kg in the three stations respectively, and is the largest commercial family in terms of the number of species and the largest weights. Diagram (2) shows the monthly changes of the family, the highest weight was 40 kg in November at the second station, and the lowest weight was 7 kg in October at the third station. Out of the important commercial families, Sciaenidae family accounted for 21.5 %, of the total catch the lowest catch of the same family was discovered in October at 7 kg, which is comparable with the study of Mohamed (1993), when it was measured at 6.8 kg. However Mohamed's study (1993) disagrees with the current study and found that the same family in 160 BULLETIN OF THE IRAQ NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Status of commercial fish catch November was it 4.2 kg. This family is constantly expanding, especially in the first station, Shatt Al- Arab estuary, due to the significance of the incubation, feeding, and reproduction environment for the youngest of many fish, including the young of this family. In contrast to Al-Shamary et al. study in (2020), the family's share of the overall catch was measured at 66 percent, which amounted to 11.5 percent, and the Resaen study in (2006), which amounted to 10.39 percent. Furthermore the current study points out that the peak fishing season runs from March to November, which coincides with Most studies dealing with monthly fluctuations in the formation of species, and that the fish resources in the Iraqi marine waters decrease during the cold months (Mohamed,1993; Mohamed and Qasim, 2014). Sciaenidae considers the most prevalent in the Iraqi marine waters and is mainly found in it and can adapt on a large scale. This family is found to increase in the months of the year due to the abundance of crustaceans in the study area and coincides with the high temperature (Lagler, 1977). As for the increase of this family in December, it reached 40 kg due to the availability of environmental conditions and the increase in water releases coming from the river in that period and the increase in the spawning status of some species of this family in the second station, which is near to the Shatt Al-Arab estuary. Diagram (2): Monthly catch of the family Sciaenidae. The formed Clupeidae accounted for 10% of the total catch, and the weights of this family varied (56, 105, and 65) kg in the study stations respectively, the highest weight was reached in Jun with 21 kg in the second station and decreased in the cold months, and most of the species spend and live in the coastal areas and enters estuaries for breeding, the percentage is slightly more than the record of Mohamed (1993) as it was recorded 8.2% of the total catch. This percentage disagrees with the study by Ali, (1993) formed 21% and the study of Mohamed and Abood (2020) which formed 11.2%. We note that the increase in the Clupeidae 161 BULLETIN OF THE IRAQ NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Al-Shamary and Younis family resulted from the availability of environmental conditions for it and during the breeding season, and it is consistent with the study of Qasim (2014) as shown in Diagram (3). In 2017, this family constituted 15.89% of the total catch. During the progression of the years, we note that there are few stocks of this family, and the reason may be due to the exposure of the fish stock to random, unscientific exploitation and this is confirmed by Qasim (2021). Diagram (3): Monthly catch of the family Clupeidae. The family Cynoglossidae was found responsible for 7.7% of the total catch, the highest weight at the first station was 25 kg in July, and the lowest weight at the third station was 1.4 kg in March. The weights of fishes of this family were (89.5, 44 and 33.5) kg in the three study stations respectively. These family species are found in sandy bottoms, and the percentage of this family does not match Mohamed's results (1993) we found 0.4% of this family, and Resen (2006) study who found a higher rate of 11.72 % of the total catch, indicating that the commercial catch has been declining in recent years. Diagram (4) shows the changes in the weights of fishes belonging to the family Cynoglossidae during the study period Many factors, including a large number of fishing boats and overfishing of the young fish in the area, have contributed to the decline, and this was confirmed by Qasim, (2021) during his study of Iraqi marine waters, who found that fish stocks were rapidly depleting. 162 BULLETIN OF THE IRAQ NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Status of commercial fish catch 0 5 10 15 20 25 H ae m ul id a Sc ai ne da e Cl up ed ae Cy no gl os si da e En gr an ul id ae Pr is ite id ae M ug ili da e Sp ar id ae So lid ae Se rr an id ae Ch ir oc en t N em ip te da e Sc om br id ae St ro m at ei da e Ca ra ng id ae Pl at yc ep ha lid ae Pa m ad as yd ae Bo th id ae Le th rin id ae Families . Diagram (4): Monthly catch of the family Cynoglossidae. Diagram (5) explains that the proportions of fish families were very different as a result of the fishermen's irregular fishing efforts, as they hunted fish at all hours of the day and night, putting a lot of pressure on the fish product and affecting fish stocks (Qasim, 2021). Diagram (5): The percentage of commercial fish families caught. It has been noted in the study by Ali et al. (1998) commercial fishing increased from May to August and during the years from 1991 to 1994 in those months. The reasons for the increase in fishing are related to the rise in temperatures and the adaptation of fish. It supplies a lot of nutrients to the region. This study disagrees with a present study we note an increase in fishing in the third station during June in marine waters. 163 BULLETIN OF THE IRAQ NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Al-Shamary and Younis Given that there is a significant difference in fishing operations between decline and growth, Table (2) compares commercial fishing in the early 1990s of the previous century with succeeding studies, and the present study when the rise and fall of fishing boats can be ascribed to the cause as a result of the varying fishing effort, and this increase may be attributed to the development of infrastructure the upgrading of navigation technology, and increasing the mechanized power of fishing boats (Mohamed and Abood, 2020). Table (2): Ratios and rates of commercial fishing for previous studies and the present study in Iraqi marine waters. Period Commercial catch% Study 1989-1990 27 Ali (1993) 1989-1990 19.3 Mohamed (1993) 1990 according to Al-Naser association 1991 1992 1993 1994 9.3 Ali et al. (1998) 16.5 27.9 21.5 37.9 2004 6-17.25 Rasen (2006) 2007 January 2007 to December 2011 2008 2009 2010 2011 33.7 Mohamed and Qasim (2014) 12 22.8 14.1 17.4 2017 January 2017 to December 20192018 2019 69.54 Mohamed and Abood (2020) 71.57 72.15 December 2018 to December 2019 85 Present study This means that the lack of fishing effort in the present study, as compared to previous studies as shown in the Diagram (6) due to the numbers of boats taken in previous years and included in figure 8 from the Al-Nasr Association for Fishermen in Al-Faw, has resulted in a decrease in catching commercial fish especially in the coming years, as confirmed by Qasim (2021) during his study on marine waters, and the small number of fishing boats in the present study has resulted in a decrease in catching commercial fish. Fishing boats, climatic changes, and fishermen's overfishing all contributed to a decrease in catching fish compared to previous years as Al-Shamary et al. (2021) discovered during their study of Iraqi marine waters. 164 BULLETIN OF THE IRAQ NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Status of commercial fish catch 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 200 250 300 350 400 N u m b e r o f b o a ts years Diagram (6): Number of fishing boats during 1998-2020. CONCLUSIONS Reducing overfishing relieves pressure on fishing effort, allowing fish to reproduce and increasing the number of commercial fish needed to sustain the economic fish stock, we can see from this study that commercial fish production has started to decline in comparison to the previous years. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS All thanks and appreciation to Mr. Ismail Ahmed from the Agriculture Directorate branch Al-Fao for his contribution to the research. CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT "The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare". LITERATURE CITED Abood, A. N. 2018. Study of structure and distribution of fish assemblages in the Shatt Al- Arab River. Ph. 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(2022) 17 (1): 155-167. البحرية العراقية، الخليج العربي حالة الصيد السمكي التجاري في املياه كاظم حسن يونس و احمد جاسب الشمري ، البصرة، العراقجامعة البصرة، مركز علوم البحار 20/12/2022، تأريخ النشر: 15/08/2022، تأريخ القبول: 06/04/2022تأريخ االستالم: الخالصة ية العراقية للفترة كانون األول درست حالة األسماك التجارية املصطادة في املياه البحر مصب شط . اذ اختيرت ثالثة محطات كانت املحطة االولى2019كانون االول - 2018 واملياه البحرية العرب واملحطة الثانية تشمل املنطقة الواقعة بين مصب شط العرب كغم 1881املصادة املفتوحة واملحطة الثالثة املياه البحرية، ظهر الوزن الكلي لألسماك كغم في 727الثانية ، و كغم في املحطة 654كغم في املحطة األولى، و 500، بواقع Sciaenidaeفيها اسماك عائلة كانت املحطة الثالثة هي االعلى وحصلتاملحطة الثالثة. عائلة عليه حصلت وزن أقل كان كغم، بينما 464على أعلى وزن الذي بلغ Scombridae 0.5 .كغم رتب، فيما كانت 6عائلة و 19جنس و 27نوعا" تنتمي الى 37بلغ العدد الكلي لألنواع والرتب االقل عددا" هي Perciformes الرتبة التي ضمت العدد االكبر من االنواع هي Oreclotiformes Nemipterideaformes, Scombridaeformes بينما تضمنت الرتبة ، scorpaeniformes احدا فقط.. نوعا و