Halvparten av nordsjøsilda kan dø etter trenging i not : Crowding in purse seine can kill half the catch of North Sea herring

Abstract

Catch regulation in purse seining for herring has traditionally been done by discarding all or part of the catch if it is too big, or if the size or quality of the herring does not match requirements. Net burst is also quite common during certain seasons. Our experiments showed that if tightly crowded, herring will, just like mackerel, experience unacceptably high mortality rates. However, whereas mackerel experienced massive mortality shortly after being crowded, it took longer for the herring to die.