Search The Database
| Location | Gear | Catch | Technique | Bycatch species | Type | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Northern Levant Sea, Türkiye |
Trawls
|
Shrimp (Aristaeomorpha foliacea and Aristeus antennatus) |
Excluder devices
|
Bony Fishes, Elasmobranchs, Sea Turtles | Field study in the wild | 40 trial tows investigated the potential of excluder grids in mitigating bycatch in trawl fisheries in the Northern Levant Sea. Tested gear configurations included a flexible grid with 50mm bar spacing and a rigid grid with 95mm spacing within the trawl extension. The excluder grids significantly reduced bycatch of several elasmobranch species including the velvet-belly lanternshark (Etmopterus spinax) and the blackmouth catshark (Galeus melastomus), as well as some species of bony fish. Sea turtle bycatch also appeared to be reduced although in general, sea turtle bycatch during the trials was low (two individuals in the control gear). However, catch performance of target shrimp species (Aristaeomorpha foliacea and Aristeus antennatus) were also reduced in the gear equipped with BRDs, indicating a trade-off.
Etmopterus spinax - 50 mm grid - bycatch reduced by 45.3%; Galeus melastomus - 50 mm grid - bycatch reduced by 68.8%; Saurida lessepsianus - 95mm grid, bycatch reduced by 86.1%; Upeneus moluccensis - 95 mm grid, bycatch reduced by 28.4% |