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Effect of Hang‐in Percentage on Catch Rates of Flounder in the North Carolina Inshore Gill‐Net Fishery
Author(s) -
Ahrenholz Dean W.,
Smith Joseph W.
Publication year - 2010
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/m10-127.1
Subject(s) - hang , fishery , fish <actinopterygii> , catch per unit effort , zoology , mathematics , biology , environmental science , engineering , mechanical engineering
Abstract The effects of hang‐in percentage (degree of tautness) on the catch efficiency of gill nets for paralichthine flounders in North Carolina were examined using monofilament gill nets with 5.75‐in stretched mesh. Nets with hang‐in percentages of 33% and 60% were fished in pairs and were separated by a single monofilament gill net of 5.50‐in stretched mesh. Catches of the paired test nets were significantly different, with the catches obtained by the looser nets (60% hang‐in) exceeding the catches in the more tightly hung nets (33% hang‐in) by 37% in number of fish and 46% in estimated weight. Length‐frequency distributions of the catch were not significantly different between the paired nets with different hang‐in percentages. Length‐frequency distributions of legal‐sized fish taken in 5.50‐ and 5.75‐in stretched‐mesh nets were significantly different, with the smaller mesh size resulting in a smaller (left‐shifted) length‐frequency distribution. Thus, hang‐in percentage can be manipulated to alter flounder harvest rates per unit of net, and small changes in mesh size can alter the size distribution of the catch.