Abstract
European hake (Merluccius merluccius) is an important commercial species for several European bottom trawl fisheries. Therefore, understanding the influence of codend mesh size and shape on the size selection of European hake is critical for defining technical measures for fisheries targeting this species. Based on morphology data collected on European hake, the influence of mesh size and shape on bottom trawl codend size selectivity was investigated by simulation using the FISHSELECT methodology successfully applied previously for other species. The predicted size selection for European hake was found to agree well with previous experimental results for a wide range of mesh sizes if it was assumed that the codend meshes had a relatively small opening angle, between 20° and 40°, during trawling. This study enables detailed prediction of size selectivity for European hake and offers a potential explanation for previous experimental size selectivity results.
Highlights
European hake (Merluccius merluccius) are commercially important demersal fish stocks and are exploited along the northeast Atlantic shelf, from Norway in the north to Mauritania in the south and into the Mediterranean Study area (Sea) and along the southern coast of the Black Sea (Cohen et al 1990)
Understanding the influence of codend mesh size and shape on the size selection of European hake is critical for defining technical measures for fisheries targeting this species
Based on morphology data collected on European hake, the influence of mesh size and shape on bottom trawl codend size selectivity was investigated by simulation using the FISHSELECT methodology successfully applied previously for other species
Summary
European hake (Merluccius merluccius) are commercially important demersal fish stocks and are exploited along the northeast Atlantic shelf, from Norway in the north to Mauritania in the south and into the Mediterranean Sea and along the southern coast of the Black Sea (Cohen et al 1990). European hake is usually found between 70 and 370 m depth, but may occur within a wider depth range, from inshore waters (30 m) to 1000 m (Cohen et al 1990). The species is primarily targeted by demersal trawls at depths ranging from 100 to 400 m in both directed hake fisheries and more mixed species fisheries (Bensch et al 2009), and it is fished mainly by bottom trawlers at 30-700 m depth in the Mediterranean (Casey and Pereiro 1995). European hake is commonly caught in mixed fisheries and targeted by smallscale fishing gears (e.g. gillnet and longline) and demersal trawls using different mesh sizes, and is subjected to a varying minimum conservation reference size (MCRS) and technical legislation throughout its range. It is subjected to an MCRS of 27 cm in European waters except the Mediterranean Sea, 20 cm in both European Mediterranean (EC 2006b) and Turkish territorial waters (TFR 2016) and 30 cm in the Skagerrak/Kattegat (EC 1998)
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