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Reducing Mortality of Striped Bass Captured in Seines and Trawls
Author(s) -
Dunning Dennis J.,
Ross Quentin E.,
Mattson Mark T.,
Geoghegan Paul,
Waldman John R.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
north american journal of fisheries management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1548-8675
pISSN - 0275-5947
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8675(1989)009<0171:rmosbc>2.3.co;2
Subject(s) - bass (fish) , morone saxatilis , fishery , fish <actinopterygii> , fish mortality , biology , environmental science
Between 1984 and 1987, more than 30,000 striped bass Morone saxatilis were captured for tagging in the Hudson River, New York, with trawls and seines. Handling before tagging was the major source of mortality. Immediate mortality decreased from 16.1 to 1.2% for striped bass captured in seines and from 17.7 to 1.0% for striped bass captured in trawls when the handling procedure was modified. The modified procedure involved guiding the cod end into a partially submerged holding tank beside the capture vessel instead of lifting the cod end out of the water to transfer the catch to a holding tank aboard the capture vessel. A significant interaction between immediate mortality, water temperature, and fish length was observed before the handling procedure was modified but not afterward. When the unmodified handling procedure was used, immediate mortality increased with increasing fish length and water temperature. However, recapture rates within a year after release also increased with increasing water temperature at the time of tagging. No significant interaction between recapture rate, water temperature, and fish length was observed for striped bass when the modified handling procedure was used. The significantly lower recapture rate for striped bass when the modified handling procedure was used (3.8%) than when the unmodified handling procedure was used (7.2%) appeared to be due to a change in harvest regulations, not to higher delayed mortality.