Study

Artisanal dredges as efficient and rationale harvesting gears in a Patagonian mussel fishery.

  • Published source details Narvarte M., González R., Medina A. & Avaca M.S. (2011) Artisanal dredges as efficient and rationale harvesting gears in a Patagonian mussel fishery.. Fisheries Research, 111, 108-115.

Actions

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

Action Category

Hand harvest instead of using a dredge

Action Link
Subtidal Benthic Invertebrate Conservation
  1. Hand harvest instead of using a dredge

    A replicated, controlled study in 2007 on a mussel bed in the San Matías Gulf, South Atlantic Ocean, Argentina (Navarte et al. 2011 - same experimental set-up as Navarte et al. 2012) found that hand-harvesting mussels caught fewer unwanted species including fewer unwanted sea urchins and brittle stars than with standard artisanal dredges. In total, hand-harvesting caught 27 species of unwanted catch, while dredging caught 47. The percentages of unwanted sea urchins Arbacia dufresnei and brittle stars Ophioploccus januarii caught (% by numbers of total catch) were lower by hand-harvesting (sea urchins: 2%; brittle stars: 32%) than dredging (sea urchins: 9%, brittle stars: 68%). More commercially targeted mussels were caught by hand-harvesting (76%) than the dredge (57% of total catch). Nineteen tows (5 min duration) were conducted in May 2007 on the mussel bed at 14–20 m depth with a standard artisanal dredge (1.6 m mouth width, 80 mm net bag mesh size). Four 40 kg commercial bags of catch hand-harvested by divers in the same area were obtained for comparison. All species were sorted (mussels; unwanted catch), counted, weighed and identified. Average proportions of mussels and unwanted catch (mostly invertebrates) were estimated for each sample. Apart from mussels, sea urchins and brittle stars dominated all samples.

    (Summarised by: Anaëlle Lemasson)

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