Stock assessement and management by restocking of Melicertus kerathurus (Forskäl, 1775) in the shallow coastal waters at Selinunte

From 1998 to 2010, monitoring was performed on the catch and fishing effort of Melicerctus kerathurus by the artisanal fleet based at the port at Marinella di Selinunte which operates in the wide gulf between Capo San Marco and Capo Granitola along the southwestern coast of Sicily. In 2004, a repopulation experiment with Melicerctus kerathurus post-larvae raised in an aquaculture plant from wild indigenous breeders was carried out in this area. The catch and cpue, in both number of specimens and in yield, were practically doubled in 2005. From 2006, catch and cpue returned to levels observed in the years prior to 2005. With the exception of 2004 and 2005, the stock of Melicerctus kerathurus in the study area is overfished. The increase in catch registered in 2005 seems due in part to the repopulation experiment and in part to the meteo-marine conditions of 2004 which were particularly favourable to reproduction and nursery of the king prawn.