Alternative bait trials in the Barents Sea snow crab fishery

Abstract

Commercial harvesting of snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) in the Barents Sea started in 2012 by Norwegian fishing vessels. This new fishery has significant bait requirements, representing an emerging conservation challenge. In this study, we evaluate the performance of five alternative (natural) baits manufactured from the waste stream of existing and sustainably managed harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) and minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) capture. Five different types of new bait were evaluated, including seal fat (SF), seal fat with skin (SFS), seal meat with bone (SMB), whale fat with skin (WFS), and whale meat with fat (WMF). A comparative fishing experiment was conducted onboard a commercial snow crab fishing vessel in the Barents Sea (May–June, 2016) to evaluate the performance of traditional bait (squid, Illexs spp.) and alternative baits at catching snow crabs. Performance of the different baits were compared on the basis of the number of commercial crab caught per trap haul catch per unit effort (CPUE) and carapace width (CW). Our results showed that SF and SFS performed equally well to traditional bait, with no statistical difference in CPUE (p-value = 0.325 and 0.069, respectively). All of the other experimental baits significantly decreased CPUE, when compared to squid. No significant effect of bait treatment on CW was detected and the cumulative distribution of CW was the same between control traps and each of the bait treatments. Overall the results indicated that SF and SFS represent a viable alternative to replace traditional bait, addressing a key conservation challenge in this bait intensive snow crab fishery.

Pots as alternative and sustainable fishing gears in the Mediterranean Sea: an overview

“…For example, the bait placed in pots targeting Nephrops in European waters accounts for 5-10% of its first-hand sale price (Ungfors et al 2013). Less expensive bait is being tested in some crab fisheries (Vazquez Archdale and Kawamura 2011;Araya-Schmidt et al 2019), as is synthetic bait (Dellinger et al 2016), which would be a momentous innovation and would reduce the pressure on bait fish stocks.…”

Increasing sustainability in food production by using alternative bait in snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) fishery in the barents sea

“…Specifically, in fisheries, the criticism of inefficiency is often focused on the use of several wild-captured species as bait for other fisheries instead of direct human consumption [1,2]. Such bait production involves high production costs [3][4][5], and results in large amounts of post-capture processing waste [6,7]. Additional concerns from using bait from wild-capture fisheries include negative ecological consequences and increased fuel consumption for capture and transportation of the bait [8].…”

Comparing the Effectiveness of Traditional and Alternative Baits in Prince Edward Island, Canada Lobster Fishery

“…Consequently, the overfishing of forage fish for crustacean bait and to meet other competing demands, such as human consumption, has led to the emergence of conservation challenges for these fish species. As traditional baits become scarcer, efforts have been made to produce more sustainable alternative baits, to alleviate some of the pressure that is currently placed on bait species used by the industry (Chanes-Miranda and Viana, 2000;Dellinger et al, 2016;Masilan and Neethiselvan, 2018;Araya-Schmidt et al, 2019).…”