When Conventional Fisheries Management Fails to Reduce the Catch and Discard of Juvenile Fish: A Case Study of the Argentine Hake Trawl Fishery in San Matías Gulf

• Published in: North American journal of fisheries management Vol. 30; no. 3; pp. 702 - 712
• Main Authors: Romero, M. Alejandra, González, Raúl A., Ocampo‐Reinaldo, Matías
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 01-06-2010
• Subjects: Marine; Merluccius hubbsi; PSW, Argentina, Chubut, San Matias Gulf; PSW, Argentina
• ISSN: 0275-5947; 1548-8675
• DOI: 10.1577/M09-148.1

The performance of management measures adopted to reduce the catch of small‐size fish in trawl fisheries requires a proper evaluation taking into account that different factors (e.g., the behavior of fishermen, gear efficiency, market forces, and weak controls) may affect the results. The high bycatch of juvenile Argentine hake Merluccius hubbsi recorded in the trawl fishery of San Matías Gulf, Argentina, could be an indication of a suboptimal harvesting pattern that should be addressed. Regulations to mitigate this problem (i.e., a minimum mesh size and the seasonal closure of a nursery area) were imposed in 1997–1998. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of the size‐selectivity measure 10 years after its implementation based on two key indicators: the presence of juvenile Argentine hake in catches and discard rates. Our results show that this measure was ineffective in reducing the catch and discard of juveniles and that both indicator values increased during the period analyzed. This failure could be the result of the limited scientific advice available when the measure was designed or poor implementation, monitoring, and control strategies.