Size-related Hooking Mortality of Incidentally Caught Chinook Salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

Mortality associated with the incidental catch and release by commercial trollers of two size classes of chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, was assessed. Observed cumulative mortality 4-6 days after hooking was 18.3 percent for sublegal-sizefish « 66 cm FL) and 19.0 percent for legal-sizefish. Size of fish was not significantly related to mortality; however, when the results were combined with data from a previous experiment, there was a significant inverse relationship between fish length and mortality. Hooking mortality estimates calculated from tagging experiments and observed relative mortality of legal-and sublegal-size fish held in net pens, were used to derive a range for total hooking mortality of 22.0-26.4 percent for sublegal-size chinook salmon and 18.5-26.4 percent for legal-size chinook salmon.

The Effects of Fish Trap Mesh Size on Reef Fish Catch off Southeastern Florida

Catch and mesh selectivity of wire-meshed fish traps were tested for eleven different mesh sizes ranging from 13 X 13 mm (0.5 x 0.5") to 76 x 152 mm (3 X 6"). A total of 1,810 fish (757 kg) representing 85 species and 28 families were captured during 330 trap hauls off southeastern Florida from December 1986 to July 1988. Mesh size significantly affected catches. The 1.5" hexagonal mesh caught the most fish by number, weight, and value. Catches tended to decline as meshes got smaller or larger. Individual fish size increased with larger meshes. Laboratory mesh retention experiments showed relationships between mesh shape and size and individual retention for snapper (Lutjanidae), grouper (Serranidae), jack (Carangidae), porgy (Sparidae), and surgeonfish (Acanthuridae). These relationships may be used to predict the effect of mesh sizes on catch rates. Because mesh size and shape greatly influenced catchability, regulating mesh size may provide a useful basis for managing the commercial trap fishery.

Economic and Trade Strategies in World Fisheries

This special section of the Marine Fisheries Review contains the edited proceedings of a symposium held on 16 September 1987 at the annual meetings of the American Fisheries Society in Winston-Salem, N.C. The symposium was sponsored by the National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade. The aim of this session was to provide an overview of several international trade issues that affect the development of fisheries economic policy. Thus, the general areas of discussion included: The role of fisheries in the U.S. balance of trade, current negotiations on fisheries trade and tariffs, and U.S. and foreign economic trade strategies and policies.

Toward a Rational Seafood Trade Policy

With a record trade deficit of almost $146 billion in 1986, and continued high deficits in 1987, there is growing concern about how continued deficits will affect the U. S. economy. Because fishery products had a record $6.3 billion deficit in 1986, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has made the reduction of the fisheries trade deficit one of its top priorities. A recent NMFS trade objective was to "increase exports and domestic consumption of U.S. fishery products" which would lead to a reduction in the trade deficit. In this paper we explore this policy in terms of practicality and desirability.

U.S. Fisheries Management and Foreign Trade Linkages: Policy Implications for Groundfish Fisheries in the North Pacific EEZ

The groundfish resources of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off Alaska, dominated by Alaska or walleye pollock, Theragra chalcogramma, Pacific cod, Gadus macrocephalus, and flatfishes, Pleuronectidae, can sustain annual commercial harvests well in excess of 2 million metric tons (t). As recently as 1979, foreign fisheries took 99 percent of the annual harvest supported by these resources. This has changed dramatically during the 1980's. The foreign fisheries have received rapidly decreasing allocations, first as joint venture fisheries expanded and, more recently, as the domestic fisheries have grown. Joint venture fisheries are fisheries in which domestic fishing vessels deliver their catch directly to foreign processing vessels in the EEZ. By 1986, the joint venture and domestic fisheries accounted for 66 percent and 8 percent, respectively, of the annual harvest. The preliminary corresponding figures for 1987 are 78 and 18 percent.

Choosing the best model in the presence of zero trade: a fish product analysis

The purpose of the paper is to test the hypothesis that food safety (chemical) standards act as barriers to international seafood imports. We use zero-accounting gravity models to test the hypothesis that food safety (chemical) standards act as barriers to international seafood imports. The chemical standards on which we focus include chloramphenicol required performance limit, oxytetracycline maximum residue limit, fluoro-quinolones maximum residue limit, and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) pesticide residue limit. The study focuses on the three most important seafood markets: the European Union’s 15 members, Japan, and North America.