Summary of Charter Fishing Laws 2016-2017

Each year the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources publishes a summary of the laws and regulations of commercial fishing in the state. This publication provides the license requirements, definitions, restrictions, and laws and regulations for the use of charter fishing laws.

Summary of Laws for Commercial Herring Fishing with Legal References 2016-2017

Each year the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources publishes a summary of the laws and regulations of commercial fishing in the state. This publication provides the license requirements, definitions, restrictions, and laws and regulations for the commercial herring fishing industry.

Summary of Public Fishing Pier Laws 2016-2017

Each year the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources publishes a summary of the laws and regulations of commercial fishing in the state. This publication provides the license requirements, definitions, restrictions, and laws and regulations for fishing piers.

Summary of shad fishing laws 2016-2017

Each year the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources publishes a summary of the laws and regulations of commercial fishing in the state. This publication provides the license requirements, definitions, restrictions, and laws and regulations for shad fishing.

A comparative study of the species composition of discards from five fisheries from the Algarve (southern Portugal)

Discards from five of the most important fisheries (crustacean trawling, fish trawling, demersal purse seining, pelagic purse seining and trammel netting) in southern Portugal were studied and compared. A total of 236 species of all taxa were discarded, with fish and cephalopods accounting for more than 90% of the discarded biomass, except trammel nets (81%). Although there was some overlapping of species, multivariate analysis using cluster analysis for classification and multidimensional scaling (MDS) for ordination, showed that there were significant differences between the five gears in terms of species composition and biomasses discarded, with the least similarity between crustacean trawling and all other fishing operations. The differences between fisheries were probably as a result of a combination of gear selectivity and depth fished. The results suggest that discarding practices are likely to have different, yet significant impacts on the marine ecosystem, warranting further studies on the fate of discards, the factors influencing discarding and mitigation.

By-catch and discarding practices in five Algarve (southern Portugal) metiers

The catches and discards of trawlers, seiners and trammel netters were studied in the Algarve (southern Portugal) using observers onboard commercial fishing vessels. Species diversity was high, with 236 species recorded as occasionally, frequently or regularly discarded. Mean discard rates per trip were 0.13, 0.20, 0.27, 0.62 and 0.70, respectively, for trammel nets, demersal purse seines, pelagic purse seines, fish trawls and crustacean trawls, with high variability in terms of discard volume and discard rate, This was especially so for se ncrs where from 0 to 100% of the total catch might be discarded. No significant relationships were found between discard quantity or discard rate and characteristics of the fishing vessels sampled within each metier (total length, TAB, hp, kW). Based on the above discard rates and the official landings, it was estimated that in 1996, Algarve trawlers discarded 9000-13000 tonnes (t) while seiners discarded 5500-8200 t. Discarding practices in these fisheries are reviewed and the reasons for discarding are presented by species and metier basis. The results support the need for more studies on the factors contributing to discarding, variability in discard quantities and rates, the fate of discards and their importance to the marine ecosystem, and on ways of reducing by-catch and discarding in these fisheries.

Discards from experimental trammel nets in southern European small-scale fisheries

Trammel net discards in four southern European areas were considerable, with a total of 137 species (79.7% of the total) discarded 65, 105, 46 and 32 species in the Basque country (Spain), Algarve (Portugal), Gulf of Cadiz (Spain) and Cyclades islands (Greece), respectively. The overall discard rate in terms of catch numbers ranged from 15% for the Cyclades to 49% for the Algarve, with the high discard rate for the latter due largely to small pelagic fishes. Discards in the four areas consisted mainly of Trisopterus luscus (Basque country), Scomber japonicus (Algarve), Torpedo torpedo (Cadiz) and Sardina pilchardus (all three areas), and Diplodus annularis in the Cyclades. Strong seasonal variation in discarding was found, reflecting differences in metiers and the versatility of trammel nets as a gear. Discarding, both in terms of numbers of species and individuals decreased with increasing inner panel mesh size. The main reasons for discarding were: (1) species of no or low commercial value (e.g. Scomber japonicus; Torpedo torpedo), (2) commercial species that were damaged or spoiled (e.g. Merluccius merluccius), (3) undersized commercial species (e.g. Lophius piscatorius), and (4) species of commercial value but not caught in sufficient quantities to warrant sale (e.g. Sardina pilchardus). A decrease in soak time together with the appropriate choice of mesh sizes could contribute to a reduction in discarding and to improved sustainability and use of scarce resources in the small-scale, inshore multi-species fisheries of southern Europe. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of fishing methods on deep water shark species caught as by-catch off southern Portugal

Deep water sharks are commonly caught as by-catch of longlines targeting bony fishes and trawlers targeting crustaceans in deep water off the southern Portuguese coast. Due to low or no commercial value, these species are most of the times discarded at sea, with only the larger specimens of some species commercialized at very low prices. In this study we present size distributions, maturity distributions, and sex ratios of 2,138 specimens belonging to four different species, namely the lantern sharks Etmopterus pusillus and Etmopterus spinax and the catsharks Galeus melastomus and Galeus atlanticus, caught with these two gears. Trawls generally caught smaller-sized specimens, in a wider length range than longlines. Trawls caught mostly immature specimens of all species, namely 83.7% immature of E. pusillus, 84.3% of E. spinax, 89.5% of G. melastomus, and 95.5% of G. atlanticus, while longlines caught mostly immature E. pusillus (69.2%) and G. melastomus (78.6%) and mostly mature E. spinax (88.2%) and G. atlanticus (87.2%). Trawls tended to catch more males than females of all species except E. spinax, while longlines caught more females than males of E. spinax and G. melastomus and more males than females of the other two species. The main conclusion of this work is that trawls are catching smaller-sized and mostly immature specimens when compared to longlines, meaning that they are probably having a more detrimental effect on these shark populations. The data presented here have significant implications for the conservation of these shark populations since sizes, sexes, and the immature and mature components of the populations are being affected differently by these two fishing gears.

From a traditionally open access fishery to modern restrictions: Portuguese anglers' perceptions about newly implemented recreational fishing regulations

Saltwater recreational fishing (SRF) in Portugal was for a long time an open-access activity, without restrictions of any kind. Restrictions to control the recreational harvest were first implemented in 2006 and were highly criticized by the angler community, for being highly restrictive and lacking scientific support. The present study aimed to obtain socio-economic data on the recreational shore anglers and gauge their perceptions about recreational fishing regulations and the newly implemented restrictions in Portugal. Roving creel surveys were conducted along the south and south-west coasts of Portugal, during pre and post regulation periods (2006-2007). A total of 1298 valid face-to-face interviews were conducted. Logit models were fitted to identify which characteristics influence anglers' perceptions about recreational fishing regulations. The majority of the interviewed anglers was aware and agreed with the existence of recreational fishing regulations. However, most were against the recreational fishing regulations currently in place. The logit models estimates revealed that Portuguese anglers with a higher level of formal education and income are more likely to agree with the existence of recreational fishing regulations. In contrast, anglers who perceive that more limitations and a better enforcement of commercial fishing would improve fishing in the area are less likely to agree with the existence of SRF regulations. The findings from this study will contribute to inform decision-makers about anglers' potential behaviour towards the new and future regulations. Although the existence of fishing regulations is a good starting point for effective management, the lack of acceptance and detailed knowledge of the regulations in place by fishers may result in lack of compliance, and ultimately hinder the success of recreational fishing regulations in Portugal. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Non-commercial invertebrate discards in an experimental trammel net fishery

Non-commercial invertebrate discards in an experimental trammel net fishery were studied in relation to selectivity of the gear, depth, soak time and season. Forty experimental fishing trials were carried out over a 1-year period with six combinations of small mesh (100, 120 and 140 mm) inner and large mesh (600 and 800 mm) outer panels. On average, 43.8 +/- 12.2 (SD) (individuals 1000 m(-1) of net) of non-commercial invertebrates were discarded, accounting for 48% and 65% of the total catch and total discards by numbers, respectively. Within non-commercial invertebrates discards, the six most abundant species by number were Phallusia mammillata (Cuvier) (27.5%), Cymbium olla (L.) (13.0%), Sphaerechinus granularis (Lamarck) (11.3%), Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck) (10.9%), Astropartus mediterraneus (Risso) (8.2%) and Astropecten aranciacus (L.) (8.1%); Echinoderms (43.1%) particularly important. The highest and lowest discard ratios were found in autumn and winter, respectively. Discards generally decreased with depth, varied considerably in relation to soak time and were not related to mesh size combinations. Trammel nets seem to be the most important gear in terms of ecological impacts on benthic invertebrates compared with other coastal fishing gears and at the depths studied (15-60 m).

Trammel net catch species composition, catch rates and metiers in southern European waters: A multivariate approach

We identified and quantified the effect of season, depth, and inner and outer panel mesh size on the trammel net catch species composition and catch rates in four southern European areas (Northeast Atlantic: Basque Country, Spain; Algarve, Portugal; Gulf of Cadiz, Spain; Mediterranean: Cyclades, Greece), all of which are characterised by important trammel net fisheries. In each area, we conducted, in 1999-2000, seasonal, experimental fishing trials at various depths with trammel nets of six different inner/outer panel mesh combinations (i.e., two large outer panel meshes and three small inner panel meshes). Overall, our study covered some of the most commonly used inner panel mesh sizes, ranging from 40 to 140 mm (stretched). We analysed the species composition and catch rates of the different inner/outer panel combinations with regression, multivariate analysis (cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling) and other 'community' techniques (number of species, dominance curves). All our analyses indicated that the outer panel mesh sizes used in the present study did not significantly affect the catch characteristics in terms of number of species, catch rates and species composition. Multivariate analyses and seasonal dominance plots indicated that in Basque, Algarve and Cyclades waters, where sampling covered wide depth ranges, both season and depth strongly affected catch species compositions. For the Gulf of Cadiz, where sampling was restricted to depths 10-30 m, season was the only factor affecting catch species composition and thus group formation. In contrast, the inner panel mesh size did not generally affect multidimensional group formation in all areas but affected the dominance of the species caught in the Algarve and the Gulf of Cadiz. Multivariate analyses also revealed 11 different metiers (i.e., season-depth-species-inner panel mesh size combinations) in the four areas. This clearly indicated the existence of trammel net 'hot spots', which represent essential habitats (e.g., spawning, nursery or wintering grounds) of the life history of the targeted and associated species. The number of specimens caught declined significantly with inner panel mesh size in all areas. We attributed this to the exponential decline in abundance with size, both within- and between-species. In contrast, the number of species caught in each area was not related to the inner mesh size. This was unexpected and might be a consequence of the wide size-selective range of trammel nets. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

A conservation trade-off? Interspecific differences in seahorse responses to experimental changes in fishing effort

1. A 2-year experimental seining programme and underwater visual censuses were undertaken to quantify the direct effects of active demersal fishing on the population structure and relative abundance of two sympatric seahorse species of conservation concern: the European long-snouted seahorse, Hippocampus guttulatus Cuvier 1829 and the short-snouted seahorse, Hippocampus hippocampus L. The influence of habitat preference on population-level responses to changes in habitat structure following a reduction in fishing effort was also investigated. 2. It was predicted that the benthic habitat would be more structurally complex after fishing ceased and that seahorse densities would increase in response to reduced fishing mortality. Furthermore, it was predicted that the magnitude of the increase in density would be greater for H. guttulatus than for H. hippocampus, because the former species prefers complex vegetated habitats while the latter species uses sparsely vegetated habitats. 3. As predicted, the amount of habitat cover increased significantly when seining ceased, primarily through increases in the abundance of drifting macroalgae and unattached invertebrates. Despite similarities in life histories, the two seahorse species responded differently in terms of magnitude and direction to reduced fishing effort: the abundance of H. guttulatus increased significantly while H. hippocampus decreased in abundance. 4. Results suggest that active demersal fishing may influence the magnitude and direction of the responses of benthic marine fishes to exploitation through its impacts on habitat structure. An increase in habitat cover appeared to favour higher densities of H. guttulatus when seining effort was reduced. By contrast, repeated seining, which maintained less complex habitats, appeared to favour greater abundances of H. hippocampus. 5. Given differences in habitat preference among benthic marine fishes subject to incidental capture in fisheries, simultaneous attempts to manage populations of sympatric species may require complementary strategies that support the persistence of diverse habitat types. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A multi-model approach to evaluate the role of environmental variability and fishing pressure in sardine fisheries

Understanding the fluctuations in population abundance is a central question in fisheries. Sardine fisheries is of great importance to Portugal and is data-rich and of primary concern to fisheries managers. In Portugal, sub-stocks of Sardina pilchardus (sardine) are found in different regions: the Northwest (IXaCN), Southwest (IXaCS) and the South coast (IXaS-Algarve). Each of these sardine sub-stocks is affected differently by a unique set of climate and ocean conditions, mainly during larval development and recruitment, which will consequently affect sardine fisheries in the short term. Taking this hypothesis into consideration we examined the effects of hydrographic (river discharge), sea surface temperature, wind driven phenomena, upwelling, climatic (North Atlantic Oscillation) and fisheries variables (fishing effort) on S. pilchardus catch rates (landings per unit effort, LPUE, as a proxy for sardine biomass). A 20-year time series (1989-2009) was used, for the different subdivisions of the Portuguese coast (sardine sub-stocks). For the purpose of this analysis a multi-model approach was used, applying different time series models for data fitting (Dynamic Factor Analysis, Generalised Least Squares), forecasting (Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average), as well as Surplus Production stock assessment models. The different models were evaluated, compared and the most important variables explaining changes in LPUE were identified. The type of relationship between catch rates of sardine and environmental variables varied across regional scales due to region-specific recruitment responses. Seasonality plays an important role in sardine variability within the three study regions. In IXaCN autumn (season with minimum spawning activity, larvae and egg concentrations) SST, northerly wind and wind magnitude were negatively related with LPUE. In IXaCS none of the explanatory variables tested was clearly related with LPUE. In IXaS-Algarve (South Portugal) both spring (period when large abundances of larvae are found) northerly wind and wind magnitude were negatively related with LPUE, revealing that environmental effects match with the regional peak in spawning time. Overall, results suggest that management of small, short-lived pelagic species, such as sardine quotas/sustainable yields, should be adapted to a regional scale because of regional environmental variability.

Assessment of catches, landings and fishing effort as useful tools for MPA management

Marine protected areas (MPAs) have been widely recognized as a tool to achieve both fisheries management and conservation goals. Simultaneously achieving these multiple goals is difficult due to conflicts between conservation (often long-term) and economic (often short-term) objectives. MPA implementation often includes additional control measures on fisheries (e.g. vessel size restrictions, gear exclusion, catch controls) that in the short-term may have impacts on local fishers' communities. Thus, monitoring fisheries catches before, during and after MPA implementation is essential to document changes in fisheries activities and to evaluate the impact of MPAs in fishers' communities. Remarkably, in contrast with standard fisheries-independent biological surveys, these data are rarely measured at appropriate spatial scales following MPA implementation. Here, the effects of MPA implementation on local fisheries are assessed in a temperate MPA (Arrabida Marine Park, Portugal), using fisheries monitoring methods combining spatial distribution of fishing effort, on-board observations and official landings statistics at scales appropriate to the Marine Park. Fisheries spatial distribution, fishing effort, on-board data collection and official landings registered for the same vessels over time were analysed between 2004 and 2010. The applicability and reliability of using landings statistics alone was tested (i.e. when no sampling data are available) and we conclude that landings data alone only allow the identification of general patterns. The combination of landings information (which is known to be unreliable in many coastal communities) with other methods, provides an effective tool to evaluate fisheries dynamics in response to MPA implementation. As resources for monitoring socio-ecological responses to MPAs are frequently scarce, the use of landings data calibrated with fisheries information (from vessels, gear distribution and on-board data) is a valuable tool applicable to many worldwide coastal small-scale fisheries. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.