Journal of Fisheries

Factors affecting export competitiveness of fisheries industry in Malaysia

Bee Hui Soh — 2025-08-20

Fisheries constitute the most highly traded food commodity internationally owing to its fundamental contribution to global food security and nutrition. Malaysia has been amongst the world’s leading fish producers; however, it has faced a serious fish trade deficit, implicating an absence of export competitiveness in the industry. This study aims to measure the export competitiveness (i.e. Comparative Export Performance index, CEP) of the industry and examine factors affecting CEP by adopting the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach on the time series data for 2001 – 2022. The major findings revealed that Malaysia recorded an absence of export competitiveness (i.e. CEP < 0) in the international fisheries market, and this issue was significantly affected by fish consumption, followed by foreign income and fisheries production. Fisheries production and foreign income positively affected the CEP in the short-run while fish consumption negatively affected it. In the long-run, fish consumption and foreign income exerted a negative effect on the CEP. The findings of this study are significant for understanding the short- and long-run effects on export competitiveness in Malaysia and can be used for fisheries development strategies.

Phylogeny, genetic diversity and divergence dating of Monodactylus argenteus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Actinopterygii: Monodactylidae) from marine waters of Odisha Coast, Bay of Bengal, India

Bijayalaxmi Sahu — 2025-08-19

Among the many different types of aquatic life found in marine ecosystems, fish are the most diverse and commercially important organisms. To support their conservation and management, accurate species identification, genetic, and phylogenetic association studies are crucial. Monodactylus argenteus, the silvery Moony fishes were collected from Gopalpur-on-sea, Odisha Coast of the Bay of Bengal, India and identified as using traditional morpho-taxonomy methods followed by DNA barcoding using cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene. Following identification, the phylogeny, genetic diversity, and divergence time of M. argenteus were investigated. The current study looked at the number of variable sites, parsimony informative sites, nucleotide diversity, and haplotype diversity. The 16 sequenced individuals of M. argenteus produced a total of 13 haplotypes, with 11 unique haplotypes and two shared haplotypes. There were 67 polymorphic sites, including 56 parsimony informative sites and 11 singleton variable sites with 72 mutations. Phylogenetic tree was drawn and all the sequences clustered in agreement with their species level taxonomic classification were observed. The divergence time of the M. argenteus species was estimated to be in the late oligocene sub-epoch, about 25.98 mya, using the RelTime maximum likelihood method. The findings of this study serve as noteworthy confirmation of the utility of DNA barcode sequences for tracking diversity of species and also contribute information on the phylogeny, genetic diversity, and divergence dating of M. argenteus.

Fish and macrophyte diversity in a tropical river under threat from municipal waste

Annie Pushpa Isaac — 2025-08-06

Fishes thrive in balanced ecosystems, where threats like invasive fish species and extensive anthropogenic activity can significantly reduce native fish populations. Macrophytes play a crucial role in providing shelter and breeding grounds for small native fish species. This study was conducted to assess the fish and macrophyte diversity, water quality parameters, and potential pollution sources in a tropical river (Virinjipuram (Palar) River, Tamil Nadu) in India between January and March 2025. It also highlights the anthropogenic impacts on fish population. Our results show that 20 species were identified including 18 native and 2 exotic species (Oreochromis niloticus and Oreochromis mossambicus). Cypriniformes was the most dominant order with 12 fish species, followed by Perciformes (3 species), Cichliformes (3 species) and Siluriformes (2 species). IUCN global status of native species revealed 16 species as Least Concern, Parambassis lala as Near Threatened and Devario fraseri as Vulnerable. Five macrophytes were observed, indicating potential interactions between fish populations and macrophytes in influencing habitat dynamics. The presence of invasive species and extensive municipal waste dumping along the riverbank is of major concern. Our present finding suggests that measures have to be taken to mitigate the anthropogenic activities to conserve the native fish fauna.

Fecundity of giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) varies with the trophic status and size of the inhabitant perennial reservoirs in Sri Lanka

RG Sanuja — 2025-07-29

Giant freshwater prawn (GFP, Macrobrachium rosenbergii) is an important commodity in the inland fisheries of Sri Lanka, where fecundity plays a crucial role in estimating the reproductive potential of the species. The fecundity of ovigerous GFP in relation to the trophic status and area of the reservoirs was empirically determined from the GFP collected from twenty-five dry-zone perennial reservoirs across Sri Lanka. Morphometric parameters, total and relative fecundity, and egg characteristics of ovigerous females were calculated. The total fecundity of GFP, which ranged between 5277±2069 – 29366±2371, differed significantly (p<0.05) with the trophic status and size of the reservoirs. The highest total fecundity was observed in the 24–25 cm and 185–210 g length and weight classes of GFP. The GFP inhabiting eutrophic medium perennial reservoirs exhibited the highest fecundity. Fecundity correlates with total length (r=0.75) and weight (r=0.71) of GFP. The total length of GFP was significantly associated with egg mass weight (r=0.74) in mesotrophic reservoirs compared to eutrophic reservoirs. Correlations between fecundity and body weight (r=0.70), fecundity and egg mass weight (r=0.76), egg mass weight and total length (r=0.69), and weight (r=0.72) were stronger in minor perennial reservoirs than in major and medium reservoirs. The present findings confirm that fecundity depends on the length, weight, and egg mass weight of ovigerous GFP, but not on the egg volume. The results align with the postulated hypothesis that the fecundity of ovigerous GFP varies with the trophic status and size of the reservoir.

Impacts of palmyrah (Borassus flabellifer) fruit pulp-enriched diets on growth and colouration of swordtail (Xipophorus helleri) and platyfish (Xipophorus maculatus)

Sutharshiny Sathyaruban — 2025-07-24

The ornamental fish industry urgently needs natural carotenoid sources due to the undesirable effects of synthetic additives. This study examines the effects of an untapped carotenoid source, palmyrah fruit pulp (PFP), on the growth and skin colour of swordtails (Xipophorus helleri) and platies (Xipophorus maculatus). Experimental diets containing 40% crude protein were formulated with varying PFP levels (%) at 0, 3, 6, and 8. A commercial diet was used as a positive control, while a diet without PFP was a negative control. Four-week-old swordtails (n=450) and platies (n=450) were divided into 15 groups for five treatments, and all were kept under the same conditions. The experiment lasted 81 days for the swordtail and 83 days for the platy. The findings show that the 8% PFP diet led to a significant increase in the skin colour in both fish compared to the other treatments. Higher growth performance (ANOVA: p<0.001) was observed in both fish when fed 3, 6, and 8% PFP diets compared to the negative control group; however, no significant difference from the positive control group. All treated groups had a survival rate of over 92%, and weight gains followed strong polynomial relationships (R²>0.98). The study concludes that an 8% PFP-enriched diet effectively influenced skin colour, with TCC levels of 85.59 µg g^–1 in swordtails and 80.54 µg g^–1 in platies. Furthermore, this diet promotes the growth of swordtails and platies. This diet serves as an adequate substitute for commercial fish feeds in the ornamental fish industry.