TY - JOUR
T1 - Bycatch reduction device in the Chilean hake (Merluccius gayi) bottom trawl fishery, using a rigid separation grid
AU - Román, Catalina
AU - Queirolo, Dante
AU - Bernal, Claudio
AU - San Martín, Marcelo A.
AU - Escobar, Victoria
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Instituto de Fomento Pesquero, especially to the scientific observers who played a key role in the data collection for this study. We also express gratitude to Erick Gaete, Pedro Apablaza, Roberto Escobar and José Merino for their collaboration in the field experiments to test the rigid grid. We give special thanks to the Pacific Blu company and the crew of FV Bonn. Dante Queirolo acknowledges funding from the CONICYT (Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científicay Tecnológica, Chile), project FONDECYT N° 11130415 . Last but not least, the help from Eladio Donoso with the manuscript translation was greatly appreciated. We acknowledge two anonymous reviewers for their valued suggestions on how to improve the manuscript.
Funding Information:
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Instituto de Fomento Pesquero, especially to the scientific observers who played a key role in the data collection for this study. We also express gratitude to Erick Gaete, Pedro Apablaza, Roberto Escobar and Jos? Merino for their collaboration in the field experiments to test the rigid grid. We give special thanks to the Pacific Blu company and the crew of FV Bonn. Dante Queirolo acknowledges funding from the CONICYT (Comisi?n Nacional de Investigaci?n Cient?ficay Tecnol?gica, Chile), project FONDECYT N? 11130415. Last but not least, the help from Eladio Donoso with the manuscript translation was greatly appreciated. We acknowledge two anonymous reviewers for their valued suggestions on how to improve the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2020/6
Y1 - 2020/6
N2 - The Chilean hake trawl fishery is one of the most emblematic fisheries in Chile. Considering the type of trawl gear used in the industrial fleet and the variety of species which cohabitates this target specie, discarding has become a recurrent practice, where the jumbo squid and the Chilean hake are often part of the discarded fauna. This problem has been monitored since the amendment of General Fisheries and Aquaculture Law in Chile in 2012, where a definition for discard was incorporated, regulations were modified and sanctions were established for those who engage in this practice. To date, the estimates of discards in this fishery have experienced a reduction from five to one thousand tons, decreasing the amount of discarded catch of Chilean hake and jumbo squid. This reduction is coincident with the introduction of the rigid separation grid in the bottom trawls of the vessels that adopted its use. This article describes the use of the rigid separation grid in trawl hauls aimed at Chilean hake, in which there were fewer hauls with the presence of jumbo squid and also reduced the capture and the catch per unit effort of this species. Besides, an experimental work, which involved the use of a cover codend to retain the fraction of escaping fish due to the use of the grid, allow to verify the jumbo squid escape. The results allow concluding that the use of this device has shown to be effective allowing the escape rate of non-target species catch, as well to posterior discards of these species.
AB - The Chilean hake trawl fishery is one of the most emblematic fisheries in Chile. Considering the type of trawl gear used in the industrial fleet and the variety of species which cohabitates this target specie, discarding has become a recurrent practice, where the jumbo squid and the Chilean hake are often part of the discarded fauna. This problem has been monitored since the amendment of General Fisheries and Aquaculture Law in Chile in 2012, where a definition for discard was incorporated, regulations were modified and sanctions were established for those who engage in this practice. To date, the estimates of discards in this fishery have experienced a reduction from five to one thousand tons, decreasing the amount of discarded catch of Chilean hake and jumbo squid. This reduction is coincident with the introduction of the rigid separation grid in the bottom trawls of the vessels that adopted its use. This article describes the use of the rigid separation grid in trawl hauls aimed at Chilean hake, in which there were fewer hauls with the presence of jumbo squid and also reduced the capture and the catch per unit effort of this species. Besides, an experimental work, which involved the use of a cover codend to retain the fraction of escaping fish due to the use of the grid, allow to verify the jumbo squid escape. The results allow concluding that the use of this device has shown to be effective allowing the escape rate of non-target species catch, as well to posterior discards of these species.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85069716609&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.marpol.2019.103624
DO - 10.1016/j.marpol.2019.103624
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85069716609
VL - 116
JO - Marine Policy
JF - Marine Policy
SN - 0308-597X
M1 - 103624
ER -