Exempted Fishing Permit: Quantification of Bycatch Composition and Survival in the Commercial Menhaden Purse Seine Fishery
Gulf of Mexico Exempted Fishing Permit. For more information, contact: Dan Luers; (727) 824-5305,Daniel.Luers@noaa.gov or Jennifer Lee at Jennifer.Lee@noaa.gov
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LGL Ecological Research Associates (LGL), Inc is requesting authorization to test post-release mortality of bycatch in the Louisiana purse seine menhaden fishery by retaining up to 400 individuals per species of federally managed red drum, Spanish mackerel, and king mackerel. Other species that occur, are not normally caught in the states’ menhaden fishery and would be released. The proposed research would evaluate the short-term condition of fish bycatch when they occur in the purse seine, fish excluder grates, dewatering screens, and release chutes, with the goal of quantifying survival of bycatch by species after quantifying the fish bycatch occurring in each exclusion method. Sampling federally managed species as they occur as bycatch would quantify the length, weight, and reproductive conditions of the bycatch of the states’ menhaden purse seine fishery off Louisiana. The bycatch fish, including red drum, Spanish mackerel, and king mackerel, would be tagged and held in large flow-through tanks onboard run boats used in the commercial sector for 24 hours to assess survival rates before being released.
Comment period ends April 22, 2024.
Exempted Fishing Permit
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