1. Low Impact Fisheries in the Baltic Sea
– modified and alternative fishing techniques
Gustaf Almqvist
The Fisheries Secretariat (FISH)
2. LIF/LIFE (Low Impact Fuel-Efficient)
aim to mitigate
Direct effects of fishing:
Effects of target species (selectivity)
Bycatch, Habitat impacts, Vulnerable species
Indirect effects of fishing:
Carbon emissions – Fuel efficiency
Opportunity for LIF/LIFE
CFP: Regionalisation (co-management)
Funds available for gear changes
MSY
Discard ban: selectivity
Seas At Risk 2009: “Moving towards Low Impact Fisheries In Europe”
WWF 2007: “Towards Low Impact Fisheries”
FAO 2012: “Barriers to achieving low-impact fuel-efficient fishing”
Suuronen et al 2012. ”Low impact and fuel efficient fishing
—looking beyond the horizon” Fisheries Research 119– 120: 135– 146
Baltic conditions:
3. Baltic pilot area, LIF
Good climate for co-operation
Limited no. of countries
All EU MS, besides Russia (7% tot. catches)
Favourable ecological conditions
Low biodiversity
Clean fisheries
Recovering fish stocks
Not significant inequality among Baltic MS
International Baltic Sea Fishery Commission (IBSFC)
BALTFISH
HOWEVER
Example of co-management
4. Susceptible to overfishing
5 of 7 stocks fished above FMSY levels
Unbalanced status of Baltic fish species
Seals and cormorants
Exposed to other anthropogenic stresses
Pollution
Nutrition load - Eutrophication
5. Constitute > 80 %
of Baltic
fish biomass &
>90% of landings
Environmetal
impact reduced →
6. LIF(E) can be achieved e.g. by shifting to new techniques
or by modifying existing techniques.
Active gears:
Bottom trawls, Danish seines, pelagic trawls
Purse seine nets,
Passive gears:
Gill nets, trap nets, longlines, pots
Jigging machines
7. Bottom trawls- Otter trawls
cod, flatfish
Effects of target species
Illustration from FAO and SEAFDEC, in Suuronen et al. 2012
(selectivity)
Bacoma
T90
Illustration by Niels Knudsen, Fiskeri- og Søfartsmuseet, Esbjerg from Korsgaard et al. (2007).
Side trawler Stern trawler Ramp trawler
vessel drawings are from Tschernij & Suuronen (2002)
8. Illustration from FAO and SEAFDEC, in Suuronen et al. 2012
Bottom trawls- Otter trawls
cod, flatfish
Bycatch
Discard: Undersized cod 8%
Flatfish (plaice, Baltic flounder)
Salmon
Habitat
Impacts on sea floor and benthic species
not well studied in the Baltic Sea
Resuspension of contaminants
Suspended materials – effects on pelagic fish eggs
(e.g. cod, flatfish)?
Vulnerable species
-
9. Modified illustration by Niels Knudsen, Fiskeri- og Søfartsmuseet,
Esbjerg from Korsgaard et al. (2007).
Danish seines
flatfish, cod – only marginally used today
Scottish seining – fly-shooting
More catch/fuel efficient
Effects of target species (selectivity)
Mixed information:
Knowledge and experience of fishermen
For herding species – poor selection
Bycatch
Discard: Undersized cod 1%
Knowledge and experience of fishermen
Habitat
Resuspension of sediment and contaminants
Vulnerable species
-
Fuel efficient
10. Pelagic/midwater trawls
Illustration by Niels Knudsen, Fiskeri- og Søfartsmuseet, Esbjerg,
from Korsgaard et al. (2007).
sprat & herring
Effects of target species
(selectivity)
High mortality of clupeids that escape
Unaccounted discard
Scattering school of pelagic species
Bycatch
Mixed catches of sprat & herring
salmon, juvenile cod
Habitat
-
Vulnerable species
-
Fuel efficient volume/
semi efficient value
11. Illustration by Niels Knudsen, Fiskeri- og Søfartsmuseet,
Esbjerg from Korsgaard et al. (2007).
Purse seine nets
shoaling pelagic species
clupeids – usage in the Baltic Sea?
Effects of target species (selectivity)
Selective but depend on
knowledge and experience of fishermen
Large catches; ecological consequences
Bycatch
Knowledge and experience of fishermen
Slipping (mortality up to almost 30%, Tenningen et al. 2012)
Habitat
Bottom contact, ”purse lines” (wire)
Vulnerable species
harbour porpoises (can be mitigated)
Fuel efficient
12. Gill nets
cod, flatfish, salmon/seatrout & coastal sp.
Effects of target species
(selectivity)
size range selective
trammel nets less selective
larger meshes than minimum allowed
unaccounted discard?
Bycatch
non-commercial fish species
Illustration by Niels Knudsen, Fiskeri- og Søfartsmuseet,
Esbjerg from Korsgaard et al. (2007).
13. Gill nets
cod, flatfish, salmon/seatrout and coastal species
Effects of target species
(selectivity)
size range selective
trammel nets less selective
larger meshes than minimum allowed
unaccounted discard?
Bycatch
Undersized cod 7%
non-commercial fish species
Illustration by Niels Knudsen, Fiskeri- og Søfartsmuseet,
Esbjerg from Korsgaard et al. (2007).
Habitat
>12 m: 13.4 km (nets combined); <12 m: 9.9 km
Effects on bottom structure during retrieval of the gear
Ghostnets
Vulnerable species
Birds, harbour porpoises
(drift net ban 2008)
14. Map showing cumulative numbers of the total annual bird bycatch in the Baltic Sea.
From Žydelis et al., 2009.
Steller’s eider caught in a net.
Photo: .Markus Vetemaa, in LIFE 05 NAT/LV/000100
15. Gill nets
cod, flatfish, salmon/seatrout and coastal species
Effects of target species
(selectivity)
size range selective
trammel nets less selective
larger meshes than minimum allowed
unaccounted discard?
Bycatch
Discard: Undersized cod 7%
non-commercial fish species
Illustration by Niels Knudsen, Fiskeri- og Søfartsmuseet,
Esbjerg from Korsgaard et al. (2007).
Habitat
>12 m: 13.4 km; <12 m: 9.9 km
Effects on bottom structure during retrieval of the gear
Ghostnets
Vulnerable species
harbour porpoises, birds
drift net ban 2008
Fuel consumption - varies
16. Longlines – demersal & pelagic
cod (flatfish), salmon/seatrout
Effects of target species
(selectivity)
semi-selective –hook size
Bycatch
Undersized cod 12%
(non-commercial species)
Illustration from FAO and SEAFDEC, in Suuronen et al. 2012
Habitat
Little effects
Vulnerable species
(birds?) Fuel consumption - varies
17. Trapnets
Clupeids, salmonids, (cod)
Effects of target species
(selectivity)
Depends on mesh size
Escape panels
Bycatch
Non target fish species
Habitat
Little effects
Vulnerable species
-
modified illustrations from LIFE 05 NAT/LV/000100
Fuel consumption - varies
18. Seal safe pontoon trap net
Clupeids, salomonids
Illustration Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute., in Suuronen et al. 2012
19. Cod pots
cod
Effects of target species
(selectivity)
selective
Bycatch
-
Habitat
-
Vulnerable species
-
illustration from Furevik et al. 2008
Fuel consumption - ?
20. Jigging machines
cod
Effects of target species
(selectivity)
selective
Bycatch
-
Habitat
-
Vulnerable species
-
Fuel consumption
?
Illustration from: http://www.montereyfish.com/pages/methods/jigging.html
21. Technical improvements
Bottom trawls & Danish seines,
more focus on:
•Selection not only in posterior part of trawl
•Less bottom contact
•Conduct studies on effects on sea floor
and ecosystem
•Escapement panels/grids in the Baltic Sea
- examples from other areas
22. Less rigid and more flexible approach to gear tests
and development efforts
The CRISP trawl, currently under development in Norway (Valdemarsen et al. 2011).
23. Pelagic trawls, more focus on:
•Measures Sweden, to smaller reduce purse bycatch seine nets of (<salmon, 6 m)
cod
(350 m in length and 28 m in depth)
•0.02 l/kg catch
Scattering effects low on bycatch
target species
and predatory rope fish instead (also of wire
Purse seines)
24. Gill nets, more focus on:
•Measures to reduce bycatch birds
•Unaccounted discard?
25. Longlines, more focus on:
•Circle hooks mandatory
•Mitigate problems with Saduria entomon
eating the bait
•Improve efficiency by looking at baits
(Cod pots)
30. Other measures
o Improved zonation of the Baltic Sea and adjusted fishing,
•e.g. Environmentally Sound Fisheries Management in
Marine Protected Areas (EMPAS)
•Seasonal closures / real time closures (moving on practices)
•Close coastal waters for trawlers
o Environmental-impact assessment
Allocate more fishing opportunities towards LIF(E) (25%)
Overlap of hotspot areas for undersized cod and areas
commercially trawled for the first two quarters (a) and the
last two quarters (b) of the year unpublished data from the LOT 1 project
“Collaboration between the scientific community and the fishing sector to minimize discards in the Baltic
cod fisheries”
32. Documents referred to in the presentation
FAO (2012). The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture. FAO, Rome, 2012.
Korsgaard, K., Olrik, M. R. and P. Mandrup (2007). Fiskerilære, 2.udg., 2007. ISBN
87-90749-10-3.
Seas At Risk (2009). Moving towards Low Impact Fisheries in Europe: Policy Hurdles
& Action. Report by Dr J. Gascoigne and E. Willsteed.
Suuronen, P., Chopin, F., Glass, C., Løkkeborg, S., Matsushita, Y., Queirolo, D. and
Rihan, D. 2012. Low impact and fuel efficient fishing—looking beyond the
horizon.Fisheries Research, 119–120: 135–146.
Tenningen, M., Vold, A., and Olsen, R.E. 2012. The response of herring to high
crowding densities in purse-seines: survival and stress reaction. ICES Journal of
Marine Science 69(8): 1523–1531.
Tschernij V, Suuronen P (2002) Improving trawl selectivity in the Baltic. Nordic
Council of Ministers, TemaNord 2002, p 512
Valdemarsen, J.W., Øvredal, J.T. and Åsen, A., 2011. Ny semipelagisk
trålkonstruksjon (CRIPS-trålen). Innledende forsøk i august-september 2011 om
bord i M/S “Fangst”. Rapport fra Havforskningen Bergen, Norway, Institute of
Marine Research. nr. 18: 17. in Norwegian
Vetemaa, M. and L. Ložys. 2009. Estonian Marine Institute, University of Tartu LIFE
Nature project “Marine Protected Areas in the Eastern Baltic Sea”, Reference
number: LIFE 05 NAT/LV/000100.
WWF (2007). Towards Low Impact Fisheries –WWF Report on how to mitigate
ecosystem effects of fishing by Katja Broeg.
Žydelis R., Bellebaum, J., Österblom, H., Vetemaa, M., Schirmeister, B., Stipniece, A.,
Dagys, M., van Eerden, M. and S. Garthe. 2009. By-catch in gillnets fisheries –
An overlooked threat to waterbird populations. Biological Conservation 142:
1269–1281
