144th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society

August 17 - 21, 2014

Most fishing gears select for species and sizes. Determining selective property of fishing gear is very important for fishery management and stock assessment. In the past thirty years, great effort has been made to improve fishing gear selectivity so as to reduce the catch of undersized fish and discards of unwanted or protected species. However, there are growing concerns on highly selective fishing practices, and debates whether selective fishing is compatible with ecosystem-based fishery management and sustainable fisheries. This symposium aims to bring together fishing technologists, fishery managers, ecologists, and stock assessment scientists on selectivity, selective fishing and their impact on the resource and ecosystem.

Across various fishing gears, methods, ecosystems, and management regimes, the session invites presentations on:

• Techniques and statistical methods measuring and evaluating fishing gear selectivity for both sizes and species
• New developments in fishing gears, methods and tools that enhance selective fishing or preserve non-selective fishing
• Impact of selective fishing on stocks, species, and ecosystems
• Comparing and contrasting selective fishing and balanced fishing from a variety of points of view: ecological, genetic, reproduction, recruitment, management, social economic and others.

We believe that the topic will benefit researchers, managers, conservationists, and their students with interests in fishing technology, ecosystem surveys, fishery management, fish ecology, stock assessment, endangered and protected species, and ecosystem impact.

Potential (tenitative) presentaters:

Shijie Zhou, Australia. Ecosystem impact of selective fishing and balanced fishing
Steve Cadrin. USA. Ecosystem impact of selective fishing
Petri Suuronnen, FAO. Selective fishing and its impact
Michael Breen, Norway. Selectivity, unaccounted mortality and their impact on resource
Pingguo He, USA. Selectivity and selective fishing, example of haddock fishery
Bent Herrmann, Denmark. FISHSELECT – a new method for predicting selectivity of fishing gears
Michael Pol, USA. Selectivity of trawl codend for redfish in the Gulf of Maine