Stocks of Mugil bananensis (Pellegrin, 1927) in the Estuary of Senegal River by Determining Yields Per Recruit and Biomass Per Recruit

Mullet occupy an important place in artisanal fishing in the region of Saint-Louis. They provide substantial income to the various actors in the sector. Overfishing would adversely affect the recovery capacity of the Mugilidea stock in the Senegal River Estuary. A biological collapse is then to be feared. This risk is all the more so since fishermen from Saint-Louis go as far as Mauritania, Guinea Bissau and Sierra Leone to search for mules that have reached sexual maturity for their gonads. Works on the assessment of the stock status of M. bananensis have not been done in Senegal, although it has been carried out in other countries. The objective of the study is to contribute to the assessment of banana mullet stocks in the Senegal River estuary by determining yields per recruit and biomass per recruit. Data were collected on total length, total weight and the sex. FiSAT II and ViT4 softwares enabled analytical models based on virtual populations’ analysis, yield per recruit (Y / R) and biomass per recruit (B / R). The results obtained showed overexploitation of M. bananensis in the estuary of the Senegal River. The stock of M. bananensis is overexploited in sea and the coefficients of fishing mortality and total mortality are remarkably high to the class mastses fish of III+ age, IV+ and V+. In sum, the study allowed us to know the dynamics of exploitation of mules in the estuary of the Senegal River and to propose a management plan and management of banana mullet for a sustainable management of this species