3. 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".
4. 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.
6. Phylum Chordata
Class Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order Aulopiformes (Lizardfishes)
Family Synodontidae (Lizardfishes)
Subfamily Harpadontinae (Bombay ducks)
Genus: Harpadon
Species H. nehereus, H. squamosus
7.
8. 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
9. 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.
10. 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
11.
12. 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.
13. 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
14.
15. 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.
16. 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
17.
18. The sexes are separate and instance of
hermaphroditism have not been reported so far
There are also no external sex differentiating
characters.
19. 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
20. 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.
21. 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
22. 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
23.
24. 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
25. 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
26.
27. 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)
30. .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
32. 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
33. 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.
34. 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.
35.
36.
37.
38. 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.
