Effect of hook and bait type on catch per unit effort in the Aegean Sea demersal longline fishery

This study aimed to determine the impact of hook and bait type on the catch composition and catch per unit effort. Effects of hook and bait types on catch composition, catch per unit effort (CPUE), length and weight distributions in demersal longline fishery were determined by experimental surveys on demersal longline sets in the Aegean Sea. A total of 12 samplings corresponding to 4800 hook fishing effort were performed between April 2014 and September 2014. Two bait types; sardine (Sardina pilchardus) and grooved razor shell (Solen marginatus) and two hook types; J-hook and C-hook were tested. CPUE values were calculated for each species and assessed between different hook-bait combinations. A total of 623 individuals were captured belonging to 3 families and 9 species. It was found that more than 60% of total catch was captured by grooved razor shell and more than 50% of the total catch was caught with J type hook. J hook was found to be close to significant (p=0.06) and grooved razor shell was found significant (p=0.02) for CPUE. The effect of bait type was found to be more significant than that of hook type for CPUE and length distribution. Hook-bait combination differed according to species and C hook baited with sardine was determined to be the best combination for Sparus aurata as the most targeted fish in the study area. Discard ratio was calculated to be 34% in terms of weight and 42.5% in terms of total number of individuals for pooled data. The condition value (K) of the species ranged from 1.05 to 1.68 and differed according to bait type. Most of the high commercial value species caught with any hook-bait combination experimented within this study are larger than minimum fishing length according to minimum landing size regulations of Turkish fishery and maturity studies.