Journal of Aquaculture Research & Development

Disturbance of essential fish habitat by commercial passive fishing gear in the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia region of the Mid-Atlantic Bight

3^rd International Conference on Aquaculture & Fisheries

September 29-October 01, 2016 London, UK

Cara Schweitzer and Bradley G Stevens

University of Maryland Eastern Shore, USA

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Aquac Res Development

Abstract:

Trap fishing is one of the oldest methods utilized to capture fish and fish traps are currently one of the most dominant fishing gears utilized by commercial fishermen in the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia region. Impacts of traps on live-bottom habitat have become an increasing concern since the 1990�??s, yet, there is little published data regarding trap-habitat interactions. Any substrate necessary for fish spawning, breeding, feeding or growth to maturity is deemed Essential Fish Habitat (EFH). To increase capture success, traps are often deployed near or on EFH. We assessed the degree of trap impacts via video observations from commercial traps at four fishing sites in the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia region, 27-36 km off the coast, at depths of 20-30 m. Two traps within a 20 trap rig were customized by attaching GoPro® cameras. Analyses of 123 trap deployments show traps often drag across the ocean floor and habitats during the retrieval process. Duration of the dragging phase is strongly correlated with trap position on the line (r2=0.6; p<0.001); traps farther down drag significantly longer than traps closer and first retrieved (1st vs. last trap: p<0.01). Dragging significantly increases trap-habitat interactions. Traps with minimal drag have <1% chance of contacting EFH but dragging increases the proportion of traps interacting with EFH to 46%. Observed trap-habitat interactions include: Breaking coral and trampling sea stars, anemones, and bryozoans. EFH located off the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia coast are highly fragmented and sparse and therefore adverse impacts of fishing traps probably affect a large portion of available habitat.

Biography :

Email: cara.schweitzer42@gmail.com