Efficacy of 2 common bait types in reducing bycatch of coastal sharks on bottom longline gear in the absence of choice

Citation
Driggers III WB, Hannan KM (2019) Efficacy of 2 common bait types in reducing bycatch of coastal sharks on bottom longline gear in the absence of choice. Fishery Bulletin 117:65–71. https://doi.org/10.7755/FB.117.3.6
Abstract

A recent study determined that when simultaneously exposed to 2 different commonly used baits, certain shark species demonstrate preferences for a specific bait on bottom longlines. To further investigate the value of bait type to reduce shark bycatch, we conducted single-b­ ait-­type bottom longline sets with standardized gear baited with either mackerel or squid. For 4 of the 5 shark species captured, there was no significant difference in catch rates with bait type. However, catch rates of Atlantic sharpnose sharks (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae) were significantly higher on mackerel-b­ aited hooks. Our results indicate that the use of squid as bait can reduce the catch of at least one shark species in the northern Gulf of Mexico while not reducing the catch of a targeted species, in this case, the red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus). However, because some protected species, most notably sea turtles, have been shown to have higher catch rates on squid-b­ aited hooks, it is necessary to assess the effect of a specific bait across all taxa directly or indirectly affected by a particular gear type before adopting any bycatch reduction measure.