Fishing

Fishing Techniques

Introduction to Fishing Techniques

• The practice of fishing involves using a variety of techniques to capture, extract, or harvest fish or other species from marine, coastal, or inland water environments.

• Some commonly used fishing techniques include line fishing (such as trolling or long-lining), net fishing (including trawling, seine netting, and gill-netting), pot fishing, and spear fishing.

Line Fishing

• Line fishing involves using baited hooks on lines to catch fish. Techniques include hand lines, long lines (with many hooks on a main line), and trolling (towing lines behind a boat).

Net Fishing

• Net fishing employs a wide variety of net types and sizes to capture fish. Some common netting techniques include trawl nets (towed behind a boat), gill nets (placed in the water column), and seine nets (encircling a school of fish).

Pot Fishing and Trap Fishing

• Pot fishing and trap fishing use baited cages or traps to catch a variety of species such as lobsters, crabs, and certain kinds of fish.

Spear Fishing

• Spear fishing makes use of spear guns or traditional spears to target certain fish species. This is often a selective method with a low bycatch rate.

Impact of Fishing on Ecosystems

Introduction to Fishing’s Impact on Ecosystems

• Fishing activities can have significant impacts on aquatic ecosystems through processes like overfishing, habitat destruction, bycatch, and the introduction of alien species.

Overfishing

• Overfishing refers to the capturing of fish from a body of water at a rate that the species cannot replenish. This can lead to a reduction in the populations of target species and can destabilise the entire food web.

Habitat Destruction

• Certain fishing techniques, particularly bottom trawling, can cause significant habitat destruction by damaging the sea floor and other aquatic habitats.

Bycatch

• Bycatch refers to the unintentional capture of non-target species, including endangered species and juvenile specimens. This can exacerbate the risk of extinction for vulnerable species and disrupt the ecosystem balance.

Alien Species Introduction

• Fishing activities can sometimes lead to the introduction of alien species, either through the discharge of bilge water or through the release of non-native fish. These introduced species can become invasive, outcompeting native species and altering ecosystem dynamics.

Sustainable Fishing Practices

Introduction to Sustainable Fishing Practices

• To lessen the environmental impact of fishing and ensure the viability of fisheries for future generations, a variety of sustainable fishing practices have been developed.

Marine Protected Areas

• Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) help to replenish fish populations and protect critical habitats by restricting or banning fishing activities.

Selectivity and Minimising Bycatch

• The use of more selective fishing gears, such as nets with larger mesh sizes or escape panels in pots, as well as technique modifications like circle hooks in line fishing, can greatly reduce bycatch.

Catch Quotas and Size Limits

• Implementing catch quotas and size limits aims to prevent overfishing by limiting the number or size of a particular species that can be caught, ensuring that population levels can be maintained or recovered.

Ecosystem-Based Management

• Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) is a holistic approach to fishing that considers the entire ecosystem, including the interactions between species and their environment, rather than focusing on individual species.