Reduced bycatch of red king crab (Paralithodes camtschatica) in the cod gillnet fisheries in northern Norway: Fishing trials with norsel mounted gillnets

摘要

Bycatch of red king crab (Paralithodes camtschatica) in stationary fishing gears, q&allygillnets, is an increasing problem to the inshore fishermen in the northern part of Norway(Finnmark county). The results are large bycatches of king crabs together with the crabs’damages on the gear and catch. In the cod gillnet fisheries, the problem might be solved byusing specially made gillnets (“norsel-mounted” nets) where the net itself is floated 0.5 metersabove the seabed. The norsel-mounted nets were compared with standard nets in theVarangerfjord (eastern Finnmark) in the period 17 March - 28 May 1999. The trials showedthat norsel nets needed more floats than the standard nets to get the net to stand properly inthe sea (to get the norsels stretched out suitably). By using extra float (rings) on the norselmounted nets the bycatches of king crab were reduced to an acceptable level with an averageof 0.6 crabs/net, compared with 3.3 crabs/net on standard and 6.7 crabs/net on nor-se1 netswithout extra float. Norse1 nets caught only about l/3 as many fish as standard nets.The catch results indicated that the gear configuration functioned in order to reduce thebycatch of red king crab. Loss of fish up to 65% is, however not satisfying. Further work isneeded to find a solution that gives a minimal loss of fish. Knowledge about the differentspecies’ behaviour is of importance in the further development of a more selective gear.