Bait defence behaviour of wolffish and its impact on long-line catch rates

• Published in: ICES Journal of Marine Science
• Main Authors: Godø, Olav Rune, Huse, Irene, Michalsen, Kathrine
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 1997
• Subjects: Short communication; Barents Sea
• Online Access: http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/54/2/273; https://doi.org/10.1006/jmsc.1996.0167

During an acoustic tagging experiment on cod in the Barents Sea in March 1995 a hierarchy among fish species was revealed, in which a wolffish ( Anarhichas sp.) was observed to be dominant in relation to cod and haddock. When wolffish are present in the odour field of a bait, the aggressive bait-defence behaviour of this species might reduce the hooking rate for other species. If long-line catch data are used for stock assessment purposes, the presence of wolffish might reduce the catchability coefficient (q) of other species, in this case cod and haddock.