DINAMIKA POPULASI IKAN KEMBUNG LELAKI (Rastrelliger kanagurta) DI TELUK KUPANG, PROVINSI NUSA TENGGARA TIMUR, INDONESIA

Abstract

Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) in the waters of Kupang Bay is part of the wealth of biological resources that the population needs to be maintained in order to be sustainable. High exploitation rate of Indian mackerel fish is due to the large market demand and high levels of consumption, causing many fishermen to carry out continuous fishing. This research aims to determine the growth patterns and dynamics of fish populations which can be used to determine the utilization conditions of R. kanagurta through estimating growth parameters. in the waters of Kupang Bay. The research was conducted in September 2022. Total sample of fish was 150. The data collected includes length and total weight. Data analysis used Microsoft Excel software which was used to analyze the relationship between length and weight and FISAT II was used to analyze fish growth parameters. The results of the analysis of the long-weight relationship between male and female mackerel showed that the growth pattern was negatif allometric with estimated of growth parameters L∞ = 28.40 cm, K = 0.51 years, and t0 = -0.32 years. The total mortality rate (Z) was 4,68, the natural mortality rate (M) was 1,17, the mortality rate from fishing (F) was 3,5, and the exploitation rate (E) was 0,75 per year.