Increasing sustainability in food production by using alternative bait in snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) fishery in the barents sea
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https://hdl.handle.net/10037/30205Date
2023-02-17Type
Journal articleTidsskriftartikkel
Peer reviewed
Abstract
The use of food grade wild-captured species as bait for other fisheries questions the sustainability
of food production. In pot fisheries, bait is an important factor determining the effectiveness of
the gear. In snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) fishery, the pots are normally baited with squid (Illex
sp.) and herring (Clupea harengus). This fishery uses substantial amounts of bait for each pot
deployment, and it constitutes one of the largest expenses for operating the pots along with costs
for fuel. Furthermore, reliance on bait that originates from wild-capture fisheries questions
economic and environmental sustainability, and involves additional use of fuel for capture and
transportation of the bait which increases the carbon footprint of the industry. Therefore, the use
of alternative bait sources is needed. One such alternative bait source can be originating from
processed by-products from commercial fisheries. However, for the new bait to be acceptable for
the fishery, it must provide comparable catch efficiency as the traditional bait. Therefore, this
study aimed at comparing the performance of a new experimental bait against the traditionally
used squid bait in the Barents Sea snow crab fishery. The results showed no statistically significant
difference in catch efficiency of target-sized snow crab. Specifically, a formal uncertainty estimation based on nested bootstrapping showed that there was no significant difference in efficiency between bait types for target-sized individuals for soak times typically employed in the
fishery. Thereby this shows a potential to increase sustainability in food production and a positive
effect on the size selectivity by additionally demonstrating a reduced capture of undersized
individuals.
Publisher
ElsevierCitation
Cerbule, Grimsmo, Herrmann, Grimaldo. Increasing sustainability in food production by using alternative bait in snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) fishery in the barents sea. Heliyon. 2023;9(3)Metadata
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