Field studies were conducted in the Patuxent River, Maryland, to quantify the bycatch of cloth-funnel eel pots with small and large openings, and to test the effect of a prototype bycatch reduction device on bycatch and catch. The bycatch reduction device consisted of a 77 mm PVC ring that was rigged around the narrow end of the flexible eel pot entrance and was designed to physically exclude terrapins. Eel pots fitted with these bycatch reduction devices eliminated the bycatch of terrapin turtles but had no effect on the size or number of eels caught.
Tests were conducted aboard small (<10 m long) static net fishing vessels targeting monkfish off the coast of Britain to determine the response of cetaceans to pingers. AQUAmark 100 pingers were positioned at 200 m intervals on the net and acoustic click detectors (C-PODs) were placed at the end of 1 km tiers of the net to determine the response of cetaceans to the pingers. Only one harbour porpoise was incidentally caught during these trials and there was a significant reduction in the number of porpoise clicks recorded at nets with pingers compared to those without.
Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia, Puerto Madryn, Argentina
9 am - 5 pm
Conveners: Tim Werner, Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction, New England Aquarium, USA; Kike Crespo, CENPAT, Argentina
Research was conducted in the western North Atlantic Ocean to determine what effect changes to the hook design and bait type would have on pelagic longline bycatch. Three types of hooks, 18/0 and 20/0 circle hooks and 10/0 Japanese tuna hooks with squid and mackerel bait were tested against the standard 9/0 J-hook with squid bait. Circle hooks and mackerel bait, individually, significantly reduced loggerhead and leatherback sea turtle bycatch.