Ghost fishing by self-baited lost, abandoned or discarded pots in snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) fishery

Abstract

Unintended continuous capture or so-called “ghost fishing”, by abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear produces negative environmental impact on marine life and nature conservation. The risk of ghost fishing in pots could be high due to potential self-baiting resulting from mortality of ghost fished catch. Self-baiting may increase ghost fishing by further attracting marine organisms, including cannibalistic conspecifics. However, self-baiting effect in pot fisheries is seldom investigated. Pot fisheries targeting snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) in the Arctic have high risk of gear loss due to harsh weather conditions. This study quantifies ghost fishing efficiency by simulated self-baited snow crab pots containing dead snow crab relative to catch efficiency of actively fished baited pots. On average, self-baited pots captured 0.4% of target-sized snow crab compared to actively fished pots. These results showed that the impact on marine environment caused by ghost fishing in pots is not always increasing due to self-baiting and can vary throughout the time pots are exposed to ghost fishing.