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The Relative Efficiency of Nylon Gill Nets after Transition from Cotton Nets in a Multispecies Fishery
Author(s) -
Högman Walter J.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1973)102<778:treong>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - fishery , perch , fishing , pelagic zone , coregonus clupeaformis , bay , herring , catch per unit effort , biology , fish <actinopterygii> , environmental science , geography , archaeology
Commercial fishing statistics for lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis), shallow‐water lake herring (Leucichthys artedii), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), and suckers (Catostomus spp.) were analyzed separately by principal gears in the fishery for a 42‐year period in northern Green Bay, Lake Michigan. The transition from cotton to nylon gill nets occurred 20 years after records began while the pound net remained unchanged. Abundance indices calculated separately for each gear and catch‐per‐unit‐of‐effort (CPE) averages for each gear did not show a general increased efficiency for nylon gill nets. After the transition to nylon, efficiency of nylon gill nets relative to cotton before transition was 3.2 for herring, 1.0 for whitefish, 1.2 for perch, and 0.8 for suckers. Similar values were found when the average of the yearly CPEˈs were compared. The differences between herring and whitefish catches by nylon gill nets relative to cotton may have been due to the respective pelagic and demersal habits of these fishes. Except for herring, the CPE values of the modern fishery can be compared directly with those of the 1929–1945 fishery. New regulations, changes in species composition, and distribution of fishing have modified the 1970+ fishery and any comparisons with former periods should include these influences.