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A support to manage the swordfish ( X iphias gladius L innaeus, 1758) IUUF (illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing): an easy method to identify the legal size
Author(s) -
Romeo T.,
Consoli P.,
Battaglia P.,
Andaloro F.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of applied ichthyology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.392
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1439-0426
pISSN - 0175-8659
DOI - 10.1111/jai.12306
Subject(s) - swordfish , fishing , fishery , biology , mediterranean sea , mediterranean climate , fish <actinopterygii> , ecology , tuna
Summary Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing for swordfish, mainly of immature specimens, are known to be the highest threats for this resource. This study provide a simple and useful tool for the maritime security service to recognize illegal landing sizes (<140 total length) of swordfish even when the specimens are deprived of their bills in order to elude the Italian law (Decreto del Presidente della Repubblica, [, 1639]/68). The purpose of the present paper is to reduce the illegal swordfish fishing in the Mediterranean Sea by supplying an alternative approach to calculate the total length, starting from the lower jaw fork length ( LJFL ). In order to do this, the relationships of LJFL ‐ FL and FL ‐ TL of 214 specimens caught in the central M editerranean S ea were examined by linear regression. Both linear models fit the data significantly at the P < 0.001 level. As the values of R 2 were very close to 1, starting from the lower jaw‐fork length of swordfish specimens and using these equations, it is possible to estimate the value of total length with a 99% approximation.