Gillnet selectivity of small coastal sharks off the southeastern United States

Abstract

Gillnet selectivity parameters for the Atlantic sharpnose, Rhizoprionodon terraenovae, blacknose, Carcharhinus acronotus, finetooth, Carcharhinus isodon, and bonnethead, Sphyrna tiburo, sharks were estimated from fishery-independent catches in multi-panel gillnets with stretched mesh sizes ranging from 8.9 to 14.0 cm in steps of 1.3 cm, with an additional size of 20.3 cm. Mesh selectivities were estimated using a maximum-likelihood model, which fits a gamma distribution to length data for each mesh size using the log-likelihood function. The Atlantic sharpnose and finetooth shark exhibited the broadest selection curves. Peak selectivities for the Atlantic sharpnose were reached from 750 mm FL for the 8.9 cm mesh to 1150 mm FL for the 14.0 cm mesh in 50 mm FL increments per mesh. Peak selectivity for the finetooth shark was reached at 550 mm FL for the 8.9 and 10.2 cm meshes, increased to 650 mm FL for the 11.4 mesh, and 750 mm FL for the 12.7 and 14.0 cm meshes. Selectivity was highest at 1150 mm FL for the 20.3 cm mesh. The bonnethead and blacknose shark exhibited narrower selection curves, with peak selectivity occurring at 450 mm FL for the 8.9 cm mesh, 750 mm for the 12.7 cm mesh in 100 mm FL increments per mesh. Maximum selectivity for the 20.3 cm mesh was 950 and 1050 mm FL for bonnethead and blacknose shark, respectively. The θ 1 values for blacknose and finetooth shark were most similar (140.58 and 141.25), whereas the value calculated for Atlantic sharpnose was the highest (211.95) and that for the bonnethead (131.77) was the lowest. Values calculated for θ 2, a parameter that describes the variance of sizes by mesh, ranged from 27,259 for the bonnethead to 189,873 for the finetooth shark. Although gillnets used in this study were not directly constructed for use in estimation of gillnet selectivities, information on mesh selectivities estimated herein has direct applicability to commercial gillnets with meshes of similar sizes.