Publication Date

7-2008

Series Number

171

Publisher

Department of Fisheries, Western Australia

City

Perth, Western Australia

ISBN

1 921258 17 9

ISSN

1035-4549

Abstract

DBIF funded Project.

Considerable research on the documention of the bycatch of cetaceans, seals, turtles, and sea lions during trawl fishing operations has been undertaken worldwide. These include the Argentinean squid and hake trawl fisheries (Crespo et al., 1997; Fertl & Leatherwood, 1997), the Dutch pelagic trawl fishery (Couperus, 1997), the NE Atlantic pelagic trawl fishery (Tregenza & Collet, 1998) and the New Zealand squid fishery (Fishing News International, 2005).

In the Pilbara Fish Trawl Fishery, operating off the coast of Western Australia protected species including dolphins, turtles, sawfish, sea snakes as well as numerous sharks and ray species have been recorded as bycatch (Stephenson and Chidlow, 2003). This observer onboard study recorded 4 bottlenosed dolphins (Tursiops truncates) caught during 100 days at sea and 473 shots (1/13 of the annual trawl time allocation) in 2002.

Conditions set by the Australian Government’s Department of Environment and Heritage state that the Pilbara Trawl Fishery must address the bycatch of protected species, particularly dolphins, if it is to maintain Wildlife Trade Operation certification under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and continue to be able to export product. In 2004 the W.A. Department of Fisheries established the Pilbara Fish Trawl Dolphin Reference group to provide advice and recommendations on strategies to reduce the frequency and intensity of interactions with dolphins.

Grids have been implemented successfully in New Zealand and in the Australian South East Trawl Fishery to reduce capture of seals and sea lions in trawl gear (Fishing News International, 2005).

In Europe, one fishery with a significant cetacean catch is the pelagic pair trawl fishery for sea bass off the United Kingdom (UK) (Northridge, 2003a; Northridge, 2003b) and off the French coast. In recent years considerable progress has been made documenting cetacean catch and trialing mitigation devices. Selection grids have been used with mixed success, to reduce the catch of common dolphins and trials with acoustic pingers are continuing.

Number of Pages

24

Keywords

Exclusion grids, Evaluation, Bycatch, Dolphins, Turtles, Sharks, Rays, Pilbara trawl fishery, Trawl nets

Disciplines

Aquaculture and Fisheries | Marine Biology | Natural Resources and Conservation | Natural Resources Management and Policy | Sustainability

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