A longline a type of fishing gear that is generally used to target pelagic species, such as large tuna and billfish. Baited hooks are attached to a long fishing line via shorter branch lines called snoods or gangions. Longlines can be anchored or freely adrift (with tracking devices so they can be retrieved). In certain open … [Read more…]
Guest post: Lauren Flynn, New Mexico State University From the Latin verb demergere, meaning ‘to sink’, demersal describes fish that live on or just above the ocean or lake floor. It can also refer to a commercial fishery for groundfish and shellfish, which typically uses gear that is weighted so it sinks to the bottom. … [Read more…]
TAC is Total Allowable Catch. This is the upper limit in the amount of fish, either by weight or number, that a fishery is allocated in a given season or year. TACs can apply to the targeted fish and/or bycatch, where once the limit is reached the fishery is closed for the remainder of the applicable … [Read more…]
A trap or pound net is a type of fishing gear with a complex organization of nets anchored to the substrate that “lead” or funnel fish into a final compartment (i.e., trap or pound) from which they cannot escape. In the Laurentian Great Lakes, this type of fishing gear is called a trap net and … [Read more…]
A gill net is a simple type of fishing gear that is staked to a substrate to create a wall of mesh. Gill nets are often made of a material, such as monofilament nylon, which is practically invisible to fish attempting to swim by. As the name implies, fish are often caught by the gills because … [Read more…]
BRD is an acronym for bycatch reduction device. Bycatch is non-target catch within any fishery. For certain fisheries, these modifications to the gear (i.e., BRDs) can help lower the amount of bycatch. For example, a turtle excluder device (TED) is a specific type of BRD designed to help turtles escape trawl nets. Especially in cases where fisheries have bycatch … [Read more…]
Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) are a specific type of bycatch reduction device (BRD) that are a modification to a trawl net to keep turtles, which are not targets of the fishery, from being caught in the net. TEDs are generally composed of a set of bars over the trawl net. While small target animals, such … [Read more…]
Bycatch is non-target catch within any fishery. Bycatch can be either different species from the target of the fishery or individuals from the target species, generally juveniles, which are not of a marketable size. Most bycatch is tossed back because it is illegal to possess or it has no commercial value. In certain fisheries, however, … [Read more…]