Untitled - CNR

Marine research at CNRrate of these nets. As a general result thedirect mortality observed at gear retrievalis often very low for most fishing practicesexcept for fixed nets. However the postreleasemortality is suspected to be veryhigh. We believe that further studies withvideo-camera, satellite tags etc. focused onthe delayed mortality would be very usefulin order to understand the efficacy of themitigation measures.Furthermore, some simple modification tocommon fishing practices would be useful.The increase of setting depth for longlineshas been found to decrease the overallcatch rates of turtles but it has led toincrease mortality but also to a reduction inthe catches of target species. The distancefrom the coast is a parameter that fisheriesmanagers should take into account for theconservation of sea turtle population.Loss of hooks, bait, branch lines and othercomponents of the gear and loss of time(to repair or replace the gear) are economicconcerns needing to be solved. Inany case fishermen cooperation is essentialfor the survival of sea turtles after catch.Comatose specimens can survive or die,depending on the circumstances; turtlescaught are generally hauled on board in avery weak or comatose state and shouldnot be released immediately because theycannot swim to the surface to breathe andin these cases the probability of drowningis very high. Therefore, awareness campaigns(handling practices) and tools (dehookingdevices) given to fishermen so thatthey can cut branchlines and remove hookswhenever possible are valuable as mitigatingmeasures. Thus this problem can besubstantially reduced by simply keepingthe turtles onboard and allowing them torecover. Fishermen acts at this time cangreatly affect the probability of surviving[33].In summary, reducing loggerhead bycatchin the Mediterranean Sea will onlybe successful through a multidisciplinaryapproach of taking into considerationchanges to fishing gear and practices, managementpolicies, turtle reaction behaviourto different stimuli and the continual educationand updating for fishermen.Current paper is taken from: “LucchettiAlessandro, Sala Antonello. An overviewof loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) bycatchand technical mitigation measures in theMediterranean Sea. Rev Fish Biol FisheriesDOI 10.1007/s11160-009-9126-1”.1849