Journal article
Elasmobranch bycatch by prawn trawls in the Gulf of California: First comprehensive analysis and the effect of fish escape devices
Karla C Garces-Garcia, Javier Tovar-Avila, Bibiana Vargas-Trejo, Dario A Chavez-Arrenquin, Terence Walker, Robert W Day
FISHERIES RESEARCH | ELSEVIER | Published : 2020
Abstract
We report results from the first detailed investigation of elasmobranch bycatch that contains data on species, sex, and length-frequency distributions of animals collected in the coastal south-eastern and entrance region of the Gulf of California. Using data from fishery-independent prawn trawl surveys between 2011–17, we found differences between years and zones in the number of species per tow in summer when more samples were taken, but we did not find differences in autumn and winter. We present size-frequency distributions with size at first maturity for Urobatis halleri, Urotrygon chilensis, Rhinoptera steindachneri, Hypanus dipterurus, Gymnura marmorata, and Pseudobatos glaucostigmus, ..
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Awarded by National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT) Mexico
Funding Acknowledgements
Thanks to the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT) Mexico for the scholarship number 410737 and to The University of Veracruz, campus Poza Rica-Tuxpan, Veracruz, Mexico for permission to undertake this investigation as part of the Ph.D. project for Karla C. Garces-Garcia at The University of Melbourne. Carlos J. Godinez-Padilla, formerly of the National Fisheries Institute and Aquaculture (INAPESCA), Mexico, prepared the maps presented in Fig. 1a and b. We also thank all the people involved in field and laboratory work, in particular the Prawn Research Project from IN-APESCA-Mazatlan, for facilitating the collection of data. The two referees who commented on an earlier version of this manuscript and prompted us to investigate the effect of the FEDs on the sizes of animals in the catch are also acknowledged.