Trawler Engine Size Had No Effect on Baltic Herring Size/Age Structure: An Experimental Study in the Gulf of Riga, Baltic Sea
- Elor Sepp
- Markus Vetemaa
- Tiit Raid
- Timo Arula
DOIAbstract
The Gulf of Riga stock of Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras L.) has been maintained through several management tools. One such tool is the restriction of vessels’ main engine power (<221 kW). This restriction was implemented in the early 1990s and is based on the vessel types available in the area and on the assumption that the gear size used in trawl fishery depends on the vessel size (power). In the current study, we compared vessels with different engine powers using the same gears currently allowed in the gulf, to identify whether vessel power had any relation to catch structure. The results showed that engine power did not explain the differences in catch structure, which were more dependent on season and depth of water. Easing t...
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