Behavior of Marine Fishes

PINGGUO HE, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the School for Marine Science and Technology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Prior to this position, he was a Research Associate Professor of Fisheries at the Institute for the Study of the Earth, Oceans, and Space and an Extension Specialist for Commercial Fisheries at the New Hampshire Sea Grant, the University of New Hampshire. Dr. He specializes in fish behavior during capture processes and conservation engineering principles to reduce impact of fishing to the marine ecosystem.

“It is my hope that this book will stimulate continued technological advances, thereby reducing the destructive effects of commercial fishing.”  (The Quarterly Review of Biology, 1 March 2012)

• Contributors ixPreface xiClement S. WardleIntroduction xiiiPingguo HePart One: Locomotion and Sensory Capabilities in Marine Fish 3Chapter 1 Swimming in Marine Fish 5John J. Videler and Pingguo He1.1 Introduction 51.2 The Swimming Apparatus 51.3 Swimming-Related Adaptations 81.4 Styles of Swimming 121.5 Interactions between Fish and Water: Fish Wakes 131.6 Energy Required for Swimming 141.7 Swimming Speeds and Endurance 181.8 Concluding Remarks 19Chapter 2 Fish Vision and Its Role in Fish Capture 25Takafumi Arimoto, Christopher W. Glass, and Xiumei Zhang2.1 Introduction 252.2 Structure of the Fish Eye 252.3 Visual Function 272.4 Visual Capacity: Visual Acuity, Separable Angle, and Maximum Sighting Distance 322.5 Color and Appearance of Fishing Gear Underwater 352.6 Fish Vision and Its Application in Fish Capture 362.7 Concluding Remarks 40Chapter 3 Hearing in Marine Fish and Its Application in Fisheries 45Hong Young Yan, Kazuhiko Anraku, and Ricardo P. Babaran3.1 Introduction 453.2 Properties of Underwater Sound and Vibration 453.3 Underwater Sound Sources and Their Characteristics 473.4 General Morphology and Functions of Inner Ears and Ancillary Structures 483.5 Responses of Fish to Sound and Its Application in Fisheries 533.6 Concluding Remarks 60Part Two: Fish Behavior near Fishing Gears during Capture Processes 65Chapter 4 Fish Behavior near Bottom Trawls 67Paul D. Winger, Steve Eayrs, and Christopher W. Glass4.1 Introduction 674.2 Trawl Gear and Trawl Fisheries 674.3 Fish Behavior in the Pretrawl Zone (Zone 1) 694.4 Fi sh Behavior between Trawl Doors and in the Net Mouth (Zone 2) 754.5 Fish Behavior inside the Trawl Net and the Codend (Zone 3) 824.6 Factors Infl uencing Fish Behavior near Trawls 894.7 Concluding Remarks 95Chapter 5 Fish Behavior in Relation to Longlines 105Svein Løkkeborg, Anders Fernö, and Odd-Børre Humborstad5.1 Introduction 1055.2 Worldwide Longline Fisheries 1065.3 Description of the Gear 1085.4 Chemoreception and Food Search—The Basis for Bait Fishing 1105.5 Interactions between the Fish and the Longline Gear 1145.6 Conservation Challenges and Potential Solutions 1235.7 Concluding Remarks 1305.8 Future Challenges 132Chapter 6 Fish Pots: Fish Behavior, Capture Processes, and Conservation Issues 143Bjarti Thomsen, Odd-Børre Humborstad, and Dag M. Furevik6.1 Introduction 1436.2 Worldwide Use of Fish Pots 1436.3 Fish Behavior in Relation to Pots 1466.4 Conservation Challenges and Solutions 1506.5 Concluding Remarks 154Chapter 7 Large-scale Fish Traps: Gear Design, Fish Behavior, and Conservation Challenges 159Pingguo He and Yoshihiro Inoue7.1 Introduction 1597.2 Trap Fisheries and Trap Designs 1597.3 Fish Behavior in and around Traps 1657.4 Fish Behavior and Trap Designs 1707.5 Size and Species Selectivity and Mortality of Escapees and Discards 1727.6 Conservation Issues and Mitigation Measures in Trap Fisheries 1747.7 Concluding Remarks 178Chapter 8 Fish Behavior near Gillnets: Capture Processes, and Influencing Factors 183Pingguo He and Michael Pol8.1 Introduction 1838.2 Capture Mechanisms, Gear Designs, and Fishing Efficiency 1848.3 Size Selectivity of Gillnets 1878.4 Fish Behavior and Gillnet Fishing 1898.5 Measures to Reduce Bycatch and Discards in Gillnets 1928.6 Interaction of Marine Mammals, Seabirds, and Sea Turtles with Gillnets 1958.7 Derelict Gillnets: Ghost Fishing Problems and Solutions 1978.8 Concluding Remarks 198Chapter 9 Electric Senses of Fish and Their Application in Marine Fisheries 205Hans Polet9.1 Introduction 2059.2 Properties of an Electric Field in Water 2069.3 The Electric Field 2099.4 Application in Marine Fisheries 2199.5 Conservation Issues 2289.6 Concluding Remarks 231Part Three: Contemporary Issues in Capture and Conservation in Marine Fisheries 237Chapter 10 Technical Measures to Reduce Bycatch and Discards in Trawl Fisheries 239Norman Graham10.1 Introduction 23910.2 Bycatch and Discard in World Fisheries 24010.3 Cause of Bycatch and Discard 24210.4 Technical Measures to Reduce Bycatch and Discard 24210.5 Implementation of Discard Reduction Measures in Trawl Fisheries 25710.6 Discussion 25810.7 Concluding Remarks 259Chapter 11 Mortality of Animals that Escape Fishing Gears or Are Discarded after Capture: Approaches to Reduce Mortality 265Petri Suuronen and Daniel L. Erickson11.1 Introduction 26511.2 Mortality of Discards and Escapees 26611.3 Assessment of Mortality 26911.4 Factors Causing Stress, Injury, and Mortality 27611.5 Measures to Improve Survival 28311.6 Concluding Remarks 286Chapter 12 Effect of Trawling on the Seabed and Mitigation Measures to Reduce Impact 295Pingguo He and Paul D. Winger12.1 Introduction 29512.2 Review of Recent Studies on the Seabed Impact of Trawling 29512.3 Description of Trawls and Their Operation 29612.4 Pelagic and Semipelagic Trawls 29912.5 Groundgear Modifi cations 30112.6 Trawl Door Considerations 30512.7 Other Trawl Gear Components 30612.8 Beam Trawls 30912.9 Concluding Remarks 310Chapter 13 Measures to Reduce Interactions of Marine Megafauna with Fishing Operations 315Dominic Rihan13.1 Introduction 31513.2 Species and Fisheries Involved 31613.3 Extent of Bycatch 31813.4 Nature of the Problem 32013.5 Regulatory Frameworks 32113.6 Potential Mitigation Measures 32513.7 Concluding Remarks 337AppendixSpecies Names Mentioned in the Text 343Index 347