Effects of trawling and longlining on the yield and biomass of cod stocks - numerically simulated

Abstract

Numerical studies were conducted on the effects of trawl and longline catches on a cod stock and possible yields from it. Five year mean age composition of Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) from the Bering Sea was used as initial age composition of the stock, which was normalized to 1 ton. Age specific Z (total mortality) was computed from this distribution and natural mortality was derived by subtracting fishing mortality from Z. Age compositions of catches were either prescribed from empirical data or created with fishing mortality coefficient (F), which was assumed constant with age after the age of full recruitment. The computations were done with different catch levels for six years assuming average constant recruitment. Essential results of this study are: a) The stock left in the sea decreases with increasing catch and reaches an equilibrium if recruitment and catches remain constant. With similar catch levels this equilibrium is reached earlier with longline and is higher than that of trawl. b) If a given level of stock in sea is desired,. higher annual catches can be taken with longlines than with trawl. c) By the same catch size longlines remove more older and more piscivorous fish which is beneficial to recruitment if the latter is largely controlled by predation. The above mentioned essential results indicate, among others that some longline fishing might be allowed to continue when TAC for trawlers has been reached.