Bias in size composition of chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) caught by a gillnet with a geometric series of mesh sizes, and its correction using gear intercalibration

Abstract

Abstract Fukuwaka, M., Azumaya, T., Davis, N. D., and Nagasawa, T. 2008. Bias in size composition of chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) caught by a gillnet with a geometric series of mesh sizes, and its correction using gear intercalibration. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 930–936. Some research gillnets with size combinations based on a geometric series have been used for research surveys underpinning the stock assessment of fresh-water and marine fish. We assessed a bias in size composition of chum salmon caught using a research gillnet consisting of ten different mesh sizes based on a geometric series of factor 1.14. In all, 11 fishing operations were conducted for gear intercalibration between the research gillnet and a midwater trawl in the central Bering Sea. The best-fit selectivity model to pooled catch data included different fishing intensities among gillnet meshes. The pooled catch efficiency and the maximum catch efficiency of the gillnet increased with fish size. Estimated size composition of chum salmon was more similar to trawl catches than to research gillnet catches. Bias in size composition of research gillnet catches may be caused by the difference in encounter probability among mesh sizes, variability in fish swimming speed based on fish size, mesh visibility influencing fish behaviour, and diel vertical migration of chum salmon. When conducting multimesh gillnet surveys for stock assessment, researchers should correct a bias in size composition by performing gear intercalibrations.