Fishing

About: Fishing is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 26543 publications have been published within this topic receiving 455552 citations. The topic is also known as: angling.

Bycatch: from emotion to effective natural resource management

Abstract: Although bycatch has been an acknowledged component of fishery management for many years, its explosive growth as a major management issue has occurred over the past decade. Emergence of the bycatch issue can be traced to increasing world competition for the ocean's fishery resources and the rapid rise of the conservation and environmental movement in recent years. Bycatch has in the past several years been equated to ‘waste’, non-selective fishing methods that threaten non-target species and degradation of ocean ecosystems. Although some important steps have been taken to abate bycatch, frequently the problem is not perceived as a component of fishery management, e.g. establishing bycatch mortality rates and evaluating their consequences upon affected populations. Fishery scientists often estimate levels of bycatch, but the overall consequences of discard mortality resulting from the complex of fisheries operating in a region are frequently unknown and speculative. The sum of fishery-induced mortalities occurring as a result of harvesting often involves a significant number of fish in addition to catch and discard. An ICES study group has characterized fishing mortality as the aggregate of all catch mortalities including discard, illegal fishing and misreporting. It is unlikely that managers will, in the near future, have a full accounting of ‘unobserved’ fishing mortality. Progress toward identifying and measuring such mortalities is receiving increasing attention. The authors suggest and provide an example of a matrix-type analysis for recording bycatch and other fishing mortalities. The matrix presentation would allow managers to evaluate various fishery-related mortality factors and their importance in developing management strategies.

Review of climate change impacts on marine fisheries in the UK and Ireland

Abstract: Commercial fishing is an important socio-economic activity in coastal regions of the UK and Ireland. Ocean–atmospheric changes caused by greenhouse gas emissions are likely to affect future fish and shellfish production, and lead to increasing challenges in ensuring long-term sustainable fisheries management. The paper reviews existing knowledge and understanding of the exposure of marine ecosystems to ocean-atmospheric changes, the consequences of these changes for marine fisheries in the UK and Ireland, and the adaptability of the UK and Irish fisheries sector. Ocean warming is resulting in shifts in the distribution of exploited species and is affecting the productivity of fish stocks and underlying marine ecosystems. In addition, some studies suggest that ocean acidification may have large potential impacts on fisheries resources, in particular shell-forming invertebrates. These changes may lead to loss of productivity, but also the opening of new fishing opportunities, depending on the interactions between climate impacts, fishing grounds and fleet types. They will also affect fishing regulations, the price of fish products and operating costs, which in turn will affect the economic performance of the UK and Irish fleets. Key knowledge gaps exist in our understanding of the implications of climate and ocean chemistry changes for marine fisheries in the UK and Ireland, particularly on the social and economic responses of the fishing sectors to climate change. However, these gaps should not delay climate change mitigation and adaptation policy actions, particularly those measures that clearly have other ‘co-benefits’. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A Conceptual Model of the Impacts of Fishing Gear on the Integrity of Fish Habitats

Abstract: Fishing gear is used over large regions of continental shelves worldwide, but studies of the effects of fishing on seafloor habitats are generally conducted on a limited number of sediment types, making the wider application of particular studies difficult. Fishing gear can reduce habitat complexity by smoothing bedforms, removing emergent epifauna, and removing species that produce structures such as burrows. I de- veloped a conceptual model of gear impacts across gradients of habitat complexity and levels of fishing effort to provide a more holistic understanding of the effects of fishing gear. Each habitat type, in an unaffected state, was categorized and scored numerically based on the components of habitat structure. Values for highly affected habitats, based on observations, were integrated into the model and represented the most af- fected state. The model predicts linear reductions in complexity based on linear increases in fishing effort. For example, the complexity value of pebble-cobble with emergent epifauna decreases linearly to half the unaf- fected value (i.e., 10 to 5) in the most affected condition. Research is needed to refine the model and develop improved predictive capabilities. For example, threshold effects may occur that depend on habitat type, fish- ing gear, and fishing effort. Adding feedback loops to the model, based on recovery rates of habitats, will greatly increase the value of such models to managers. The model can be used directly for management in the current iteration by adopting a well-conceived adaptive management strategy. The objective of such an ap- proach must include both the sustainable harvest of fishes and the maintenance of biodiversity.

Distribution characteristics of marine litter on the sea bed of the East China Sea and the South Sea of Korea

Abstract: The types, quantities, and distribution of marine litter found on the sea bed of the East China Sea and the South Sea of Korea are surveyed. Surveys were evaluated using bottom trawl nets during 1996–2005 cruises. Mean distribution densities were high in coastal seas, especially in the South Sea of Korea offshore from Yeosu, with 109.8 kg km −2 , and low in the East China Sea, with densities of 30.6 kg km −2 . Fishing gear, such as pots, nets, octopus jars, and fishing lines, accounted for about 42–72% and 37–62% of litter items in the East China Sea and the South Sea of Korea, respectively, whereas the contributions of rubber, vinyl, metal, plastic, glass, wood, and clothing were below 30% mainly. Rope and drum composition fluctuated greatly, between 54% and 0%. Eel and net pots dominated the marine debris of the South Sea of Korea, and some vinyl, plastics, and fishing gear made in Korea, China, and Japan were collected in abundance in the East China Sea. Fishing gear was probably discarded into the sea, deliberately or inadvertently, by fishing operations. A comprehensive joint approach by Korea, China, and Japan is needed for the continuous monitoring of input sources, the actual conditions, and the behavior of marine litter for protection against litter pollution and fisheries resource management in this area.