Multispecies selectivity of line fishing towards sustainability

Abstract

Understanding the selectivity of demersal fish towards different fishing methods is an important contribution to generate fisheries management plan. The purpose of this study is to examine the selectivity of line fishing on reef fishes based on multispecies approached. Coral fishes were caught by hand lines, longlines and trolled lines by fishers from Kotania bay, Maluku-Indonesia. The species and size of fish catch from January 2013 to December 2014 was filled in logbooks. Multispecies selectivity was estimated by the abundance size spectrum according to methods of fishing: handline, longline and trolled line. In total, 30886 reef fishes were collected, representing 147 species and 37 families. By grouping into genus, longline captured 55 genus which selective to genus Epinephelus, Handline caught 54 genus targeting on genus Lethrinus and trolled line caught 24 genus which selective to genus Plectropomus. Size distribution by hook sizes were not normally distributed (P < 0.001). Multispecies approach from multi-gear selectivity analysis resulted that trolled line was the high selective method especially for grouper family. Handline showed equal selectivity among species captured while the selectivity of longline was varied among fish. Fishing method, hook sizes and biodiversity are the important factors affecting multispecies selectivity. Knowledge of multispecies selectivity is important for fisheries management and fishing allocation in supporting balance fishery is recommended to maintain fisheries sustainability.