The effect of pingers on harbour porpoise, Phocoena phocoena bycatch and fishing effort in the turbot gill net fishery in the Turkish Black Sea coast

Published source details Gönener S. & Bilgin S. (2009) The effect of pingers on harbour porpoise, Phocoena phocoena bycatch and fishing effort in the turbot gill net fishery in the Turkish Black Sea coast. Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 9, 151-157.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Use acoustic devices on fishing gear Action Link

Use acoustic devices on fishing gear

A controlled study in 2006 of a pelagic area in the Black Sea, Turkey (Gönener & Bilgin 2009) found that fishing nets with acoustic devices attached had fewer entanglements of harbour porpoises Phocoena phocoena than nets without acoustic devices. Harbour porpoise entanglement rates were lower in nets with acoustic devices (0.01 porpoises/day) than in those without acoustic devices (0.47 porpoises/day). Catch rates of target Black Sea turbot Schophthalmus maeoticus were higher in nets with active acoustic devices (1.1 fish/day) than in those without (0.5 fish/day). During each of 20 fishing trips, one gill net string was deployed with acoustic devices attached (Dukane NetMark 1000 emitting 300 ms signals every 4 seconds at 10–12 kHz, spaced 200 m apart) and one was deployed without acoustic devices. Each string comprised 16 nets tied together (total length 1.1 km, 160 mm mesh size). Nets were deployed at depths of 17–183 m for 168–288 h. Entangled porpoises and fish catches were recorded during each of the 20 fishing trips in March–April 2006.

(Summarised by: Anna Berthinussen)