MEPS 504:301-302 (2014) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10822
COMMENT
Estimating by-catch of loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean: Comment on Álvarez de Quevedo et al. (2013)
José Carlos Báez1,2,*, Salvador García Barcelona1, Raimundo Real2, David Macías1
ABSTRACT: Álvarez de Quevedo et al. (2013; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 489:225–234) tagged 26 by-caught loggerhead sea turtles, released them with the hook and 40 cm of line, tracked them for 90 d, and concluded that the Spanish longline fleet in the southwestern Mediterranean Sea has an annual by-catch of 10656 loggerhead turtles, resulting in 3421 to 4028 turtle deaths. We consider the methodology and results in Álvarez de Quevedo et al. (2013) to be correct overall, but based on the loggerhead CPUE (per 1000 hooks) in the 2006-2007 period, we estimate that only 6060 ind. (SE: ±40%) are captured annually; this would lead to a lower estimate of turtle mortality of 1945 to 2290 ind. (±40%).
KEY WORDS: By-catch · Longline · Mediterranean · Sea turtle
| Full text in pdf format | Cite this article as: Báez JC, García Barcelona S, Real R, Macías D
(2014) Estimating by-catch of loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean: Comment on Álvarez de Quevedo et al. (2013). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 504:301-302. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10822
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