An Alternative Approach in Longline and Handline Fishing; Snake Tongue “Fishing Performance and Catch Efficiency”;
Project no. 23897 · Status: Kapanmış (Yayın bekleniyor) · 2023
Summary
<p>An Alternative Approach in Longline and Handline Fishing; Snake Tongue “Fishing Performance and Catch Efficiency”; This project investigates the fishing performance and effectiveness of an alternative rigging technique called "snake tongue" in line and longline fishing. In traditional longlines, each branch line uses a single hook, whereas the snake tongue system employs two hooks per branch line. Trials conducted in the Gulf of Izmir and its surroundings tested three different bait types: razor clam (<em>Solen ensis</em>), sardine (<em>Sardina pilchardus</em>), and cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) with two different hook types (straight/J-type and circular/C-type). One of the most significant results of the study is the operational efficiency of the snake tongue longline. For the same number of hooks, the traditional longline is deployed in an average of 21.33 minutes and retrieved in 26.33 minutes, while the snake tongue longline is deployed in 9.5 minutes and retrieved in 13.72 minutes. These results indicate that the snake tongue system reduces operation time by approximately 50-55%.</p><p>A total of 526 individuals belonging to 23 different fish species were caught in the study, with the top five most caught species being <em>Spicera flexuosa, Diplodus vulgaris, Boops boops, Sparus aurata, and Diplodus annularis</em>, constituting 72.81% of the total catch. In terms of hook type, C-type (circular) hooks (63%) were found to be more efficient than J-type hooks (37%). Among bait types, cuttlefish (40.4%) and razor clam (38.8%) had the highest catch efficiency, while sardine's effectiveness (20.8%) was found to be lower. In terms of catch per unit effort (CPUE), the values for lines (15.93±3.81 fish/hour) were significantly higher compared to longlines (5.03±1.07 fish/hour). The most efficient group by rigging technique was traditional line fishing (19.10±6.96), and the least efficient was traditional longline (3.67±1.05). The CPUE value of the snake tongue longline (6.26±1.76) was calculated to be higher than that of the traditional longline.</p><p>In conclusion, the snake tongue system's significant reduction in operation time, savings in both time and labor (Especially in longline fishing, more hooks can be thrown and collected in unit time), and increase in catch efficiency demonstrate that it is an innovative approach that can be used in commercial and amateur fishing. Especially for small-scale fishermen, this system offers cost and time advantages and is recommended to be tested under different conditions and with larger samples.</p>