Background: Fish stock assessment is a scientific effort that entails collecting, analyzing, and reporting demographic information to determine changes in the abundance of fishery stocks in response to fishing and predict future trends of stock abundance. The Importance of fish stock assessment is to ensure long term health and productivity of fish stocks, contributing to the sustainability of fishers, helps in conservation and protecting endangered or threatened species and provides information to fisheries management hence helping in setting fishing seasons, quotas and other regulations.
Methods: Interviews and sampling were conducted to the fishers in Shimoni BMU after fishing trips to provide details about fishing grounds, effort and catches during the months of January, February and March of 2024 and the same months for 2025 to compare the trends of fish catch at Shimoni Landing site.
Results: The table shows a summation of the monthly
Data recorded in the months selected on the given
Years. Three months which were January to March were selected for the years 2024 and 2025 to show the comparison of the fish catch. According to the results it shows that there is an increase in the fish catch in 2025 compared to 2024.
Conclusion: The results shows that catch levels have increased over the assessment period; however, continued monitoring is essential to ensure sustainability and prevent overexploitation