Mitigating bycatch in Mediterranean trammel net fisheries using species-specific gear modifications.

ABSTRACT: Small-scale fisheries (SSF) use static gear which are thought to interact with marine ecosystems more benignly than towed gear. Despite this, trammel nets, one of the most extensively used type of fishing gear in the Mediterranean SSF, generate large amounts of discards, which can account for 25% or more of the captured biomass. Discarded organisms may include endangered or threatened species such as elasmobranchs, as well as non-commercial invertebrates that damage fishing gear or cause disentanglement delays. We evaluated various trammel-net gear modifications, including (i) the use of a guarding net attached to the footrope, (ii) increasing the length of the rigging twine between the footrope and the netting panel, and (iii) decreasing the mesh size of the outer panels. The last two mod

SUBMITTER: Ganias K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10646473 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature