Bottom trawl catch comparison in the Mediterranean Sea: Flexible Turtle Excluder Device (TED) vs traditional gear.

ABSTRACT: The Mediterranean Sea is a biodiversity hotspot where intense fishing pressure is associated with high bycatch rates of protected species (sea turtles and cetaceans) and top predators (sharks). Since the conservation of these species has become a priority, fishery scientists are faced with the challenge of reducing incidental catch, which entails high rates of mortality. Among the species threatened by fishing activities, the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) is a charismatic species considered as "vulnerable" at the global scale. In the Mediterranean Sea trawl nets are the gears with the highest probability of catching protected species incidentally. A new flexible Turtle Excluder Device (TED) was tested for the first time on commercial bottom trawlers to assess its effectiveness in red

SUBMITTER: Vasapollo C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6892479 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature