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The influence of the type of hook on the capture of groupers andbycatch with bottom longline in the Gulf of Gabès, Tunisia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2014

Khaled Echwikhi ,
Imed Jribi ,
Béchir Saidi  and
Mohamed Nejmeddine Bradai
Khaled Echwikhi*
Affiliation:
National Institute of Sea Sciences and Technologies, PO Box 1035, 3018 Sfax, Tunisia Institute of Applied Biology of Medenine, 4119 Medenine, Tunisia
Imed Jribi
Affiliation:
Sfax Faculty of Sciences, PO Box 1171, 3000 Sfax, Tunisia
Béchir Saidi
Affiliation:
National Institute of Sea Sciences and Technologies, PO Box 1035, 3018 Sfax, Tunisia
Mohamed Nejmeddine Bradai
Affiliation:
National Institute of Sea Sciences and Technologies, PO Box 1035, 3018 Sfax, Tunisia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: K. Echwikhi, Institute of Applied Biology of Medenine, 4119 Medenine, Tunisia. email: chouikhikhaled@yahoo.fr
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Abstract

Members of the Epinephelinae subfamily of serranids (‘grouper’) are heavilyexploited by bottom longline in the Gulf of Gabès located in the south ofTunisia. In addition to direct mortality, hook and release mortalitieslikely occur when fish are caught and released, due to injuries sustainedfrom hooking as well as those associated with retrieval. During fiveexperimental trips (29 fishing sets) conducted in August 2011 from the portof Djerba (south of the Gulf of Gabès), we evaluated the effect of hookstyles (9/0 ‘J’ and 12/0 circle hook) on groupers and non-target species. Atotal of 340 specimens representing 10 species were captured. The highercatch rate was registered for Epinephelus aeneus. Themajority of groupers captured were female mature. The circle hook increasedthe capture of the most common grouper E. aeneus and didnot affect the catch of Epinephelus marginatus and Epinepheleus costae. The effect of the type of hook onhooking location was inconclusive. Managing of the grouper fishery usingsome management actions such as size limits, bag limits, and closed seasonsmay prevent more unnecessary losses of grouper species. From thispreliminary study, a definite conclusion for or against the use of circlehook cannot be drawn. Further research on the role of gear modification andhook designs in reducing by-catch, hooking-related injury and mortalityshould be encouraged.

Keywords

grouperfisheriescircle hooklonglinecatch ratemortalityby-catch

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 95 , Issue 1 , February 2015 , pp. 207 - 214
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2014 

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