The catch composition of bottom trawls is commonly refined and improved through changes in codend design. Measures like reducing the number meshes circumference or turning diamond netting by 90 degrees are well known to improve size selectivity fish species with rounded cross-sectional shape. Based on this we speculated whether same measures, if applied other parts a trawl, would provide simila...

Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is an abundant fishery resource, the harvest levels of which are expected to increase. However, many of the length classes of krill can escape through commonly used commercial trawl mesh sizes. A vital component of the overall management of a fishery is to estimate the total fishing mortality and quantify the mortality rate of individuals that escape from fis...

The trawl fishery of the Mediterranean coast of Israel was analyzed vis á vis catch and fishing effort for the years 1949-2010. The Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) was calculated using the Fox surplus-yield model and was found to be 1,413 ton per annum using 1,415 units of effort (fishing days X engine power divided by 1000). Only during nine years (1997-2005) did fishing effort exceed the valu...

Bycatch studies have largely ignored population level effects on fish species of little commercial interest. Here we analyze bycatch of the lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus) in the bait-shrimp trawl fishery in Hernando Beach, Florida, providing the first fisheries data for this species. Based on catch per unit of effort (CPUE), size, sex, and reproductive status of trawled H. erectus, 1) app...

Catch quotas for walleye pollock Gadus chalcogrammus, the dominant species in the groundfish fishery off Alaska, are set by applying harvest control rules to annual estimates of spawning stock biomass (SSB) from age-structured stock assessments. Adult walleye pollock abundance and maturity status have been monitored in early spring in Shelikof Strait in the Gulf of Alaska for almost three decad...

The bycatch of small cetaceans in commercial fisheries is a global wildlife management problem. We used data from skippers' logbooks and independent observers to assess common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) bycatch patterns between 2003 and 2009 in the Pilbara Trawl Fishery, Western Australia. Both datasets indicated that dolphins were caught in all fishery areas, across all depths and...

Elasmobranchs are among the most threatened long-lived marine species worldwide, and incidental capture is a major source of mortality. The northern central Adriatic Sea, though one of the most overfished basins of the Mediterranean Sea, supports a very valuable marine biodiversity, including elasmobranchs. This study assesses the impact of the northern central Adriatic pelagic trawl fishery on...

Reducing fleet capacity in European fisheries is an important objective of the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy. The success of such programmes depends both on the variation and the level of efficiency within the fishing fleets. If vessels with significantly lower than average efficiency levels are decommissioned, the actual reduction in fishing capacity will be less than expected. Furt...

The blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, is a valuable resource in the Coastal Bays, supporting a steady commercial and recreational fishery. Surveys suggest that blue crab abundance fluctuates without an apparent trend, yet there is still a successful annual commercial fishery that even attracts crabbers from the Chesapeake Bay. Since 1990, commercial landings for crabs have averaged from 0.5 to 1....