On Penaeus kerathurus (Forskal, 1775) in the Selinunte shallow coastal water

The king prawn (Penaeus keraturus Forskäl, 1775) lives on the sandy or muddy seabeds of the coastal area in which it burrows. It is a species that easily adapts to the changes in salinity, and in the reproduction period comes close to the coasts and the estuaries of the rivers. It is a highly prized species and its price, in Sicily, fluctuates between 30 and 45 EUR per kg. In Sicily, it is fished solely by artisanal fishing using trammel nets and/or gill net. The catches are made in spring and summer, rarely in autumn and almost never in winter. The catches and effort of artisanal fishery in the fishing area of Selinunte (South-West coast of Sicily) were estimated by interview at landing with two different surveys. The first one catch-effort survey began on 1 October 1997 and ended on 30 st th September 1999; it was carried out on sampling basis in space and time (one day of interviews every two weeks; each sampling day some of the actives fishermen were interviewed). The second catch-effort survey began on 1 April 2002 and will st be finished on 31 March 2005; it is conduct on census basis in the space and time (all fishing days all actives fishermen were st interviewed). The fishing effort was calculated as: number of actives fishing boats by season. In the present work spring is considered to be inApril-June and summer (the warmest season) in July-September. The maximum catches were realized during the spring. The catches increasing with the effort. In the spring the cpue it's very similar each year.So probably the stock it is not overexploited. The figure 1 show: the length-weight relationship (W=aL ); the estimated a and b parameters; the R value and the fitted b 2 length-weight curve. Females and males carapace length ranging form 33 to 61mmand 30 to 42mmrespectively. This is a preliminary work just to discuss on the king prawn stock assessement and management all kind of comments and suggestions will be welcome.