Conserving Schizothorax esocinus: Integrating fisheries management and legal protection for sustainable conservation

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

The decline of Schizothorax esocinus (Chirruh), an ecologically significant and endemic species in Dal Lake, Kashmir, which now accounts for only 0.06 % of fish catches, underscores the urgent need for conservation. The study examined the combined effects of invasive species and environmental factors on the decline of the species population. Using FiSAT II software, growth parameters, mortality rates, and exploitation levels were assessed from 1202 specimens collected in 2022. The growth parameters for S. Esocinus revealed an asymptotic length (L infinity) of 441 mm and a growth coefficient (K) of 0.390 year(-1) , indicating slow growth and vulnerability to overexploitation. The fishing mortality exceeds the natural mortality (F > M), showing that fish are dying more for fishing reasons. The total, natural, and fishing mortalities were calculated as 0.93, 0.36, and 0.57 year(-1) , respectively, with an exploitation rate (E) of 0.61, exceeding the maximum sustainable exploitation level (E-max) of 0.421. The length-at-first-capture ratio (Lc/L infinity) was estimated at 0.050, highlighting the dominance of juvenile fish in the catches. Additionally, the sensitivity analysis revealed that Emax increases proportionally with higher values of K, F, and L infinity . The study also reveals a steady decline in MSY (Emax) values in Dal Lake from 2013 to 2022, reflecting a 26.14 % reduction, suggesting that the ecosystem's capacity to support fishing activities without depleting the stock is decreasing and revealing significant impacts, further exacerbating S. Esocius's vulnerability. Beyond biological assessments, the study identifies a critical legal gap in Indias's conservation framework, which lacks enforceable protection for freshwater species like S. Esocinus, leaving them highly vulnerable to ecological and anthropogenic threats.

Keywords

Sustainable Fisheries, Maximum Sustainable Yield, Growth Parameters, Overfishing, Fisheries Law and Policy, Length-Frequency Analysis

Publication Title

Regional Studies in Marine Science

ISSN

2352-4855

DOI

10.1016/j.rsma.2025.104707

Volume

93

First Page

104707

Publisher

Elsevier

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