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Design and test of a grid to reduce bycatch in the longfin inshore squid ( Doryteuthis pealeii ) trawl fishery
Author(s) -
Bayse S. M.,
Pol M. V.,
Walsh M.,
Walsh A.,
Bendiksen T.,
He P.
Publication year - 2017
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.13381
Subject(s) - bycatch , fishery , squid , biology , oceanography , fishing , geology
Summary A species separation grid was tested for a squid trawl to reduce finfish bycatch in the Nantucket Sound longfin inshore squid ( Doryteuthis pealeii ) fishery in southern New England, USA . The experimental trawl with a grid significantly reduces bycatch of summer flounder ( Paralichthys dentatus ) (76.4%, p < .001), black sea bass ( Centropristis striata ) (71.7%, p = .001), smooth dogfish ( Mustelus canis ) (86.0%, p < .001), and total bycatch (69.2%, p < .001) when compared to a conventional trawl. The catch rate of scup ( Stenotomus chrysops ) is 40.2% less than in the experimental trawl, but this difference is not statistically significant ( p = .258). However, the experimental trawl also reduces targeted squid capture by 47.5% ( p < .001), which is commercially unacceptable. Length analysis indicates no size effect on the retention for squid between the trawl with a grid (experimental) and the one without a grid (control), but the experimental trawl significantly reduces larger scup (>27 cm FL ) and larger black sea bass (>37 cm TL ), and all summer flounder size‐classes. Therefore, this grid design may not be a suitable bycatch reduction device for the Nantucket Sound squid trawl fishery, and further work is needed to understand squid behavior within a trawl to develop a successful bycatch reduction strategy for the New England longfin inshore squid fishery.