Catch Rate of Artisanal Fisheries, Percentage Abundance and In Akpayafe River In Bakassi Local Government Area, Cross River, Nigeria.

Investigation on the catch rate of artisanal fisheries and species composition in Akpayafe River, Bakassi Local Government Area was carried out monthly from April 2009 March 2010 to determine the catch rate of the fisheries in the river system as well as the relative abundance of the different fish species. A total of 23 fish species and 20 fish families were recorded. Ethmalosa fimbriata, Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus, Callinectes amnicola were dominant species with E. fimbriata being the most abundance species with 12694 individuals, C. nigrodigitatus with 957 then C. amnicola with 852 individuals. Fish abundance was generally high in April, May and December 2009 than other months. High populations of 3759, 2664 and 2511 individuals respectively were recorded in December, April and May with higher catch rates observed in May (69.98kg/day/boat) and July (21kg/day/boat) but least in March (6.7kg/day/boat). E. fimbriata was the most abundant species and Hydrocynus brevis was the least abundant during the survey.