Acronym STELLA
Category
Fisheries
Title Development of alternative management approaches and fishing gear and techniques towards minimizing conflicts in gill net fisheries and conservation objectives and subjects of protection in the EEZ of the Baltic Sea Programme National Programme
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National Coordinator Christopher Zimmermann Coordinator email christopher.zimmermann@vti.bund.de
Coordinator institution
TI-OF - Thünen-Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries (Germany)
Institutions involved
NA
Start year 2016 End year 2020 Funding (€) € NA Website https://www.thuenen.de/en/institutes/baltic-sea-fisheries/projects/fisheries-environment-baltic-sea/gill-net-fisheries-development-of-alternative-management-approaches-stella Summary The overall objective of this project is to make significant progress towards resolving existing or potential conflicts between the activities of passive fisheries (mainly gill-net fishing) and the conservation of marine birds and marine mammals in the German EEZ of the Baltic Sea. In the past experiments on different modifications of gill-nets and even alternatives to gill-net use in general were conducted to reduce unwanted by-catch. To reduce the by-catch of porpoises for example the “acoustic visibility” of net-material was increased which is supposed to lead to a better detection of nets by means of the porpoise’s biosonar. Another method is the use of so-called Pingers (“startlers”) which emit a signal that is unpleasant for porpoises and thus should keep them away from gill-nets. In some areas of the Baltic the use of Pingers is mandatory, but not for all fleet segments. However, the long-term effectiveness of the hitherto used Pingers is not guaranteed. Uncontrolled failure of devices can occur and result in the animals being lead into the “silent” net areas. At the same time the possibility of familiarisation effects is being discussed. Additionally, the ‘startlers’ could further reduce the available habitat and therefore be contrary to the conservation goals. Consequently, work is being conducted on an alternative Pinger concept where the porpoises are being warned by species-specific signals (PAL, current study under leadership of the Thuenen Institute of Baltic Fisheries). Regarding the native and migratory marine birds for which the Baltic represents an important moulting-, roosting- and breeding-area, there are up to now no differentiated concepts to decrease by-catch which have proven to be practical in commercial passive fisheries – except for a blanket exclusion of fisheries.
Keywords
Cetaceans;
Environmental impact;
Gear technology;
Fishing technology;
Gillnets;
Bycatch;
Small scale fisheries;
Marine Region
23
Baltic West of Bornholm (27.IIId.24)
24
Sound, Belt Sea or Transition Area (27.IIIb,c)
2
Marine Region Map
