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Benthic disturbance by fishing gear in the Irish Sea: a comparison of beam trawling and scallop dredging

Benthic disturbance by fishing gear in the Irish Sea: a comparison of beam trawling and scallop dredging
Benthic disturbance by fishing gear in the Irish Sea: a comparison of beam trawling and scallop dredging
1.?The distribution of effort for the most frequently used mobile demersal gears in the Irish Sea was examined and their potential to disturb different benthic communities calculated. Fishing effort data, expressed as the number of days fished, was collated for all fleets operating in the Irish Sea in 1994. For each gear, the percentage of the seabed swept by those parts of the gear that penetrate the seabed was calculated.

2.? For all gears, the majority of fishing effort was concentrated in the northern Irish Sea. Effort was concentrated in three main locations: on the muddy sediments between Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man (otter and Nephrops trawling); off the north Wales, Lancashire and Cumbrian coast (beam trawling); the area surrounding the Isle of Man (scallop dredging).

3.?In some areas, e.g. between Anglesey and the Isle of Man, the use of scallop dredges and beam trawls was coincident. A comparative experimental study revealed that scallop dredges caught much less by-catch than beam trawls. Multivariate analysis revealed that both gears modified the benthic community in a similar manner, causing a reduction in the abundance of most epifaunal species.

4.? Although beam trawling disturbed the greatest area of seabed in 1994, the majority of effort occurred on grounds which supported communities that are exposed to high levels of natural disturbance. Scallop dredging, Nephrops and otter trawling were concentrated in areas that either have long-lived or poorly studied communities. The latter highlights the need for more detailed knowledge of the distribution of sublittoral communities that are vulnerable to fishing disturbance.
1052-7613
269-285
Kaiser, M.J.
383e3d13-5a6b-41af-b414-5643526dd321
Hill, A.S.
bd878f76-1ea8-42e8-a6dc-e1327c0e01e8
Ramsay, K.
834ad9fa-7f8a-4fa6-85ef-e45065cb0fcf
Spencer, B.E.
2eb58c06-5904-441f-a62c-4171480d8b4d
Brand, A.R.
f9b98a51-4101-40a0-990c-3f5ed19d4c8d
Veale, L.O.
2f4cf451-3f84-4890-bdd2-3f321f0d09ca
Prudden, K.
94b35d4a-d6db-4b41-a2c4-98e938611d88
Rees, E.I.S.
9a9591c8-d6d9-4e52-84e2-d4e261d4ae7e
Munday, B.W.
d2b6c26a-ccc9-4675-aea2-6851493be107
Ball, B.
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Hawkins, S.J.
758fe1c1-30cd-4ed1-bb65-2471dc7c11fa
Kaiser, M.J.
383e3d13-5a6b-41af-b414-5643526dd321
Hill, A.S.
bd878f76-1ea8-42e8-a6dc-e1327c0e01e8
Ramsay, K.
834ad9fa-7f8a-4fa6-85ef-e45065cb0fcf
Spencer, B.E.
2eb58c06-5904-441f-a62c-4171480d8b4d
Brand, A.R.
f9b98a51-4101-40a0-990c-3f5ed19d4c8d
Veale, L.O.
2f4cf451-3f84-4890-bdd2-3f321f0d09ca
Prudden, K.
94b35d4a-d6db-4b41-a2c4-98e938611d88
Rees, E.I.S.
9a9591c8-d6d9-4e52-84e2-d4e261d4ae7e
Munday, B.W.
d2b6c26a-ccc9-4675-aea2-6851493be107
Ball, B.
26885c95-ebcf-49d6-acf1-87f7ca39ab94
Hawkins, S.J.
758fe1c1-30cd-4ed1-bb65-2471dc7c11fa

Kaiser, M.J., Hill, A.S., Ramsay, K., Spencer, B.E., Brand, A.R., Veale, L.O., Prudden, K., Rees, E.I.S., Munday, B.W., Ball, B. and Hawkins, S.J. (1996) Benthic disturbance by fishing gear in the Irish Sea: a comparison of beam trawling and scallop dredging. Aquatic Conservation Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 6 (4), 269-285. (doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-0755(199612)6:4<269::AID-AQC202>3.0.CO;2-C).

Record type: Article

Abstract

1.?The distribution of effort for the most frequently used mobile demersal gears in the Irish Sea was examined and their potential to disturb different benthic communities calculated. Fishing effort data, expressed as the number of days fished, was collated for all fleets operating in the Irish Sea in 1994. For each gear, the percentage of the seabed swept by those parts of the gear that penetrate the seabed was calculated.

2.? For all gears, the majority of fishing effort was concentrated in the northern Irish Sea. Effort was concentrated in three main locations: on the muddy sediments between Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man (otter and Nephrops trawling); off the north Wales, Lancashire and Cumbrian coast (beam trawling); the area surrounding the Isle of Man (scallop dredging).

3.?In some areas, e.g. between Anglesey and the Isle of Man, the use of scallop dredges and beam trawls was coincident. A comparative experimental study revealed that scallop dredges caught much less by-catch than beam trawls. Multivariate analysis revealed that both gears modified the benthic community in a similar manner, causing a reduction in the abundance of most epifaunal species.

4.? Although beam trawling disturbed the greatest area of seabed in 1994, the majority of effort occurred on grounds which supported communities that are exposed to high levels of natural disturbance. Scallop dredging, Nephrops and otter trawling were concentrated in areas that either have long-lived or poorly studied communities. The latter highlights the need for more detailed knowledge of the distribution of sublittoral communities that are vulnerable to fishing disturbance.

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Published date: December 1996
Organisations: Ocean and Earth Science

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Local EPrints ID: 188789
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/188789
ISSN: 1052-7613
PURE UUID: 0319e71e-40ce-49b2-9427-f3da760f535a

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Date deposited: 27 May 2011 12:43
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 03:33

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Contributors

Author: M.J. Kaiser
Author: A.S. Hill
Author: K. Ramsay
Author: B.E. Spencer
Author: A.R. Brand
Author: L.O. Veale
Author: K. Prudden
Author: E.I.S. Rees
Author: B.W. Munday
Author: B. Ball
Author: S.J. Hawkins

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