Available online at: www.mbai.org.in doi:10.6024/jmbai.2021.63.2.2304-02 J. Mar. Biol. Ass. India, 63 (2), July-December 2021 Abstract Sporadic and seasonal landings of jellyfishes along the southern coast of India have been under investigation since 2018. The catostylid jellyfish Crambionella orsini is the only species that contributes to a fishery in this region. In the October to January months, a seasonal fishery exists along the Kanyakumari, Thiruvananthapuram and Neendakara coast, with catches being made variously by gillnetters, single day trawlers, multi-day trawlers and shore seines. An unprecedented 44 day fishery on the Neendakara coast from December 2020 to January 2021 was investigated in depth, with estimated landings of 453.16 metric tonnes landed at Sakthikulangara and Neendakara Fisheries Harbours in Kollam District, Kerala. Economic efficiency of the fishery from Sakthikulangara Fisheries Harbour was estimated as 44.76 gross value added as percentage of gross revenue and net operating income of `1313 per fishing trip with average earning to a crew member being `510 per trip. The oral arms of C. orsini is the only part of the jellyfish that are traded and exported, mainly to China and South east Asian countries after salt curing. Emergence of this augmentative fishery has come as a boon to fishers combating the regressive environment of the Covid-19 period. Promotion of this fishery with increased processing and export facilities and investigations into value added products from the resource is recommended. Keywords: Edible jellyfish, jellyfish fishery, economic efficiency, oral arms processing Introduction For centuries, different species of jellyfishes have been harvested for food and various other uses such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, fish feeds and baits; in agriculture as fertilizers and insecticides etc. (Brotz and Pauly, 2017). Regions of the eastern hemisphere remained as the major producers and consumers of jellyfishes until recently when they began being targeted by various countries across the western hemisphere, triggered by the depleted stocks and the resultant heavy demand for jellies from East Asia (Brotz et al., 2016; Bleve et al., 2019). Data regarding the past jellyfish fisheries and the population is available at least since ~1950s and it shows that their population is subject to the effects of interannual climatic variations. In the recent past, various factors have been identified as positively influencing their population. The human induced depletion of the resources of both finfishes and shellfish resources could act either as effective depressors of competitors Emergent fishery of the catostylid jellyfish Crambionella orsini along the southern coast of India Miriam Paul Sreeram 1 *, L. Ranjith 2 , S. Jasmine 3 , Somy Kuriakose 1 , Shyam S. Salim 1 , K. R. Aju 1,4 , K. M. Sreekumar 1 , Jacob Peter Paulose 1 , T. Retheesh 1 , Sindhu Augustine 1 , Jose Kingsly 3 , A. X. Treasa Augustina 1, 4 , R. Saravanan 5 and K. K. Joshi 1 1 ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi- 682 018, Kerala, India. 2 Regional Station of ICAR- CMFRI, Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu-628 001, India. 3 Regional Centre of ICAR- CMFRI, Vizhinjam, Thiruvananthapuram- 695 521, Kerala, India. 4 CUSAT, Kochi and Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment. 5 Regional Centre of ICAR- CMFRI, Mandapam Camp, Tamil Nadu-623 520, India. *Correspondence e-mail: miriampaul@yahoo.com Received: 26 Aug 2021 Accepted: 25 Nov 2021 Published: 30 Nov 2021 Original Article