Effect of lunar cycle and monsoon on abundance of pelagic sharks around Andaman and Nicobar Islands

High demand and lucrative value of shark products like shark fin has resulted in an increase in the number of sharks caught worldwide. Pelagic sharks form a major bycatch of tuna longline fishery. The present study attempts to understand the abundance of pelagic sharks in time and space scale around the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. The exploratory tuna longline survey data are fitted using the generalised linear model. The results indicate a significant effect of lunar cycle as well as monsoon on the catch rate of pelagic sharks. The highest catch rates were recorded during new moon period.