BOMBAY DUCKBY

BY

JAMES J PULIKOTTIL

THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME

The origin of the term "Bombay duck" is uncertain. One

popular etymology relates to railroads..When the rail links

started on the Indian sub-continent, people from the eastern

Bengal were made aware of the large availability of the

locally prized fish on India's western coasts and began

importing them via the railways. Since the smell of the dried

fish was overpowering, its transportation was later

consigned to the 'Mail' Train. The mail train — the Bombay

Mail or the Bombay Daak — thus reeked of the fish smell and

'You smell like the Bombay Duck', was a common term in use

in the days of the British Raj. In Bombay, the local English

speakers then called it so, but it was eventually corrupted

into "Bombay duck".

According to local Bangladeshi stories, the term

Bombay duck was first coined by Robert Clive, after

he tasted a piece during his conquest of Bengal. It is

said that he associated the pungent smell with that

of the newspapers and mail which would come in to

the cantonments from Bombay. The term was later

popularized amongst the British public by its

appearance in Indian restaurants across the country.

MOISTURE %

PROTEIN %

FAT % ASH %

89.30 9.10 .70

.90

PROXIMATE COMPOSITION OF

BOMBAY DUCK

SCIENTIFIC CLASIFICATION OF BOMBAY DUCK

Phylum Chordata

Class Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)

Order Aulopiformes (Lizardfishes)

Family Synodontidae (Lizardfishes)

Subfamily Harpadontinae (Bombay ducks)

Genus: Harpadon

Species H. nehereus, H. squamosus

The genus Harpodon comprises of two species Harpodon nehereus $ Harpodon squamosus

The body is slender, soft, and gelatinous in appearance. Reported to

be phosphorescent in fresh condition.

Large head. Small eyes; cleft of the mouth wide and deep, lower jaw

prominent of unequal recurved.Depressible teeth in the jaws, caudal

is tri lobed. Scales commence opposite to the origin of the dorsal fin

color brownish to grayish-white

Morphological characters

Worldwide distribution, from Zanzibar to China, seas and

estuaries of India, EastPakistan, Burma and straits of Malaca.

In India it occurs in large quantities on the West Coast, in

Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Cambay in Gujarat and along the

Congon coast of Maharashtra, particularly in Kolaba and

Thane districts. On the east coast it is taken in small numbers

along the Coromandel coast, in appreciable quantities along

the Andhra-Orissa coast and in the estuaries of West Bengal.

Distribution

Inhabit deep water offshore on sandy mud

bottom for most of the year, but also gathers in

large shoals in deltas of rivers to feed during

monsoons

Benthopelagic; Oceanodromous ; depth range 50

- m

SHOALING BEHAVIOUR

THE FOOD AND FEEDING

In the early stages food consist of wholly prawns

As the growth progresses the prawn diet is

supplemented with fish(clupeids).

As the fish grows clupeids make up 16% of the

food while the percentage of the prawn varies

between 74 and 78.

When the adult stage is reached they constitute

37.8 and 47.8 respectively.

FOOD OF JUVENILES

The fish is indiscriminate

voracious ,carnivorous and cannibalistic

feeder.

It does not show preference for any particular

type of food but feeds mainly on fishes and

crustaceans

THE FOOD OF ADULTS

The food items

The wide gape of the mouth and the elongated lower

jaw enables the fish to swallow large sized prey.

The teeth in both the jaws are thin, long and recurved

which prevent the prey from escaping

The stomach is greatly distensible and when gorged

with food becomes almost translucent.

Instance are known where a Bombay duck of 210 mm

long has a 250 mm Trichiurus in its stomach.

FEEDING ADAPTATIONS

AGE AND GROWTH The Bombay duck is a continues breeder; but two

peaks of spawning activity are apparent during November-December and March – April. The length frequency studies which are normal procedure for determining the age and growth of a fish.

year Length 1st year 50mm 2nd year 150mm 3rd year 230mm 4th year 290mm

REPRODUCTION

The sexes are separate and instance of

hermaphroditism have not been reported so

far

There are also no external sex differentiating

characters.

The ratio between the two sex is found to be fluctuating during the various months in the year. The males predominate in the catches in the monsoon months of July and august but from September to may the females are dominant. The overall catching shows that the females predominates in the commercial catches, the ratio being 100 males to 171 females

AGE AND SEX

In males testis is differentiated when the male reached 170mm long

In females the ova is first differentiated when the females reached 120-140mm

Minimum size at maturity in females

2OOMM. 200-210MM. 240MM.

MATURITY

It has been assumed that the species is a continues breeder with intense activity from OCTOBER TO APRIL and slack from MAY TO SEPTEMBER.

DIVERSE OVER THE SPAWNING PERIODICITY

•The individual spawns twice a year, though the breeding season extends practically through the year

•Later on it has been observed that the individual fish spawns only once while the species as a whole breeds throughout the year with two peaks. Once in APRIL-JULY, and the second in NOVEMBER-DECEMBER

Spawning Season and Spawning periodicity

The number of mature ova produced by Harpadon nehereus ranging in size between 229 and 318 mm has been found to vary from146000 to 146400

There is a relation ship exist between the weight of the ovary and the number of mature ova.

It has been observed that the larger females maturing on the second or subsequent occasions produce more ova

FECUNDITY

CRAFT AND GEAR

The bag nets or doll nets on the west coast in Maharashtra and Gujarat

The gill nets or khanderi in Gujarat

Behundi jal or a fixed bag net in the estuaries of Bengal and Mutla river

CRAFT AND GEAR

The Doll net is operated in depths varying about

15 to 50m.The operations being carried out at

greater depths as the season advances.

In Gujarat the gill net khanderi is operated in the

10 mile zone between kosambo and kolak,

In Andhrapradesh the boat seines called

Iragevala are operated by two catamarans during

the July to November periods.

Fixed bag nets are used in Orissa coast.

The Behundi jal is used in the estuaries of west

Bengal from October to June

LANDINGS OF BOMBAY DUCK

The catch statistics indicate a remarkable increase in landings from 7262 tones in 1951 to 1,28,618 tones in 1956. In 1958 and 1959 recorded poor landings. The fishery revived in 1960 and since then it has more or less stabilized around 80,000 tones comprising 80% of the catch of immature fish. 80% of total Bombay duck landings come from the west coast of India, which exclusively from the States of Gujarat and Maharashtra. In 1989, 1,30,689 tones have been landed. In 2010-2011 the total contribution of Bombay duck was 3.1%(94,942 tonnes)

1950-1990

YEAR EAST COAST

WEST COST

1990 17936 124299

1991 23620 142418

1992 23923 153738

1993 6595 142074

1994 11884 126396

1995 25485 133786

1996 25750 159362

1997 25229 187887

1998 35141 144774

1999 35229 146591

2000 35544 133156

1990-2000

YEARS WEST COAST

EAST COAST

2001 141027 34920

2002 100302 35382

2003 101869 40640

2004 135285 35981

2005 158778 29486

2006 152788 29528

2007 185043 26520

2008 218590 15513

2009 177959 17090

2010

2001-2010

.The estimated total catch of Bombay duck in Gujarat

during 2010 was 37,879 t (7.5% of the total fish landing).

The landings by dolnets from the inshore grounds of

Nawabunder, Rajpara and Jaffrabad were 25,178 t, which

is nearly 22%of the total dolnet catches with a catch rate

of 742.2 kg/unit. Higher catch and catch rates were seen

during October - December. The size of H. nehereus

ranged from 180 to 309 mm

Landings in Gujarat

19

50

19

53

19

56

19

59

19

62

19

65

19

68

19

71

19

74

19

77

19

80

19

83

19

86

19

89

19

92

19

95

19

98

20

01

20

04

20

07

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

East coast

West coast

1950-2009

The only possible method by which age or size at first can be adjusted by regulating the mesh size at an appropriate size.

The experimental study was conducted by CMFRI at Bassein in Maharashtra using doll nets with different cod end mesh to determine the selectivity of the gear and to evolve an optimal mesh size for the escapement of the undersized fish

The immediate reduction in the Bombay duck catch with 30mm mesh was 37% of the catch by 15mm conventional mesh and with 40 mm mesh the catch had dropped by 23%.Besides Bombay duck, the golden anchovy and non penaeid prawns also registered considerable decrease

STOCK MANAGEMENT

In case of the exploited stocks it is essential to find out the current fishing intensity and determine the level of fishing intensity to obtain a maximum sustainable yield.

Studies on the eggs and larvae and the area of spawning, migration of fishes needs exploratory survey.

Emphasis on the laminated Bombay duck from traditional sundried ones are to be given to its export potential.

Study of fluctuations of annual catches will be helpful in predicting fishing success on a short term basis.

FUTURE FISHERY

In 1997, Bombay duck was banned by the European

Commission(EC) of the European Union. The EC admitted that it

had no "sanitary" evidence against the product and the UK Public

Health Laboratory Service confirmed that there are no recorded

cases of food poisoning, or bacterial contamination, associated

with Bombay duck. It was banned because the EC only allows fish

imports from India from approved freezing and canning factories,

and Bombay duck is not produced in factories. Prior to the ban,

consumption in the United kingdom was over 13 tonnes per year.

EUROPEAN UNION IMPORT RESTRICTIONS

Who is known as Bombay duck ??????

T H A N K Y O

U

The wanderings of the Bombay duck, which bring about fisheries of much regional importance along certain coasts seem to be influenced by two main factors i.e. the availability of food and the favorable condition of the water temperature. The low surface temperature in the areas of occurrence is probably responsible for the peculiar distribution of the species to a great extent than the other factors.

SHOALING BEHAVIOUR