On the basis of data of four dominant demersal finfish species landed by trawlers at Kakinada, the method of multispecies stock assessment using the Beverton and Holt model is described and the problems involved are discussed. It is shown that with the present gear in use, the effort has to be reduced by about 6% to get MSY or with the present effort unchanged, the cod end mesh size has to be reduced by 28 % to get MSY. The latter option is considered to be the best because the present lengths at first capture are less than the lengths at first maturity, a situation that, if allowed to continue, can lead to recruitment overfishing.