Influence of soak time on catch performance of commercial creels targeting Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) in the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

Creel catch performance is known to be affected by the soak time in many fisheries. If creels maintained their efficiency over longer periods, increase in soak time should lead to proportional increase in catch quantity. However, the exact shape of this relationship is unknown for creel fisheries targeting Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus). If it was known fishermen could adjust their fishing strategy accordingly and maximize their net earnings. We compared catch performance of creels targeting Norway lobster soaked for one and two days in the Adriatic Sea. Results were obtained for three crustacean species, Norway lobster (N. norvegicus), mantis shrimp (Squilla mantis), and blue-leg swimming crab (Liocarcinus depurator) and two fish species, poor cod (Trisopterus minutus) and blotched picarel (Spicara flexuosa). Doubling the soak time from one to two days did not double the catches and for Norway lobster no increase was found. For the other crustaceans, a slight but not significant increase was estimated. Catches of blotched picarel were significantly lower for the longer soak time, while the results were inconclusive for the poor cod.