Investigation and analysis of the otter board trawl fishery in Minnan-Taiwan shallow fishing ground

Based on the monitoring survey data(production records of monitoring vessel and appraisal analysis of samples)and production statistics data of the otter board trawlers in related county/city operating in Minnan-Taiwan shallow fishing ground during 2009—2010,this paper expounded the fishery role,distribution of fishing ground and fishing gears type used in the otter board trawl fishery,meanwhile the species composition and the resource dynamics of main catch targets were mainly analyzed.The results showed that the yield of the otter board trawl fishery was the first in various marine fisheries,the number of large tonnage and high-power fishing boats had been increasing for years,winged solo cod-ends accounted for most in the type of fishing gears,and mesh size of fishing gears became smaller and smaller,which caused serious damage to commercial young fish.The results also showed that the otter board trawl had substantial change in fishery resource structure,the catch was mainly composed of species with short lifecycle,and biomass of low grade of nutrition fish resources such as swimming crab,squid,cuttlefish and shrimp increased obviously,the stock of Paerargyrops edita decreased year by year and tended to smaller and younger;the dominant specie Bleekeria anguilliviridis in Minnan-Taiwan shallow fishing ground during 1996—2005 had rarely been seen nowadays.