Short-term hooking mortality of three marine fish species (Sparidae) caught by recreational angling in the south Portugal

• Published in: Fisheries research 2011-02, Vol.108 (1), p.58-64
• Main Authors: Veiga, Pedro, Gonçalves, Jorge M.S., Erzini, Karim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Angling; Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Cantharus; Diplodus vulgaris; Exploitation and management of natural biological resources (hunting, fishing and exploited populations survey, etc.); Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hooking mortality; Marine; Recreational; Sea water ecosystems; Sparidae; Sparus aurata; Spondyliosoma cantharus; Synecology; Undersized
• ISSN: 0165-7836; 1872-6763
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fishres.2010.11.021

Short-term hooking mortality was evaluated for three sparid species [ Diplodus vulgaris (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire), Sparus aurata L. and Spondyliosoma cantharus (L.)] in the Algarve, south Portugal. Fishes were caught from the shore during October 2009 at a fish farm reservoir (Ria Formosa), using three different hook sizes. The relationships between hooking mortality and seven independent variables were analyzed using logistic regression models. In all, 384 fishes representing the three target species were caught during the angling sessions. The most caught species was S. cantharus ( n = 181; 100% undersized), followed by S. aurata ( n = 137; 89% undersized) and D. vulgaris ( n = 66; 97% undersized). Mortalities ranged between 0% for D. vulgaris and 12% for S. aurata ( S. cantharus, 3%). For S. aurata, anatomical hooking location was the main predictor of mortality, with 63% of the fishes that died being deeply hooked. Our results support the current mandatory practices of releasing undersized fish for the studied species, given the low post-release mortality rates observed.