Science Response 2018/043
A Review of the Use of Recompression Devices as a Tool for Reducing the Effects of Barotrauma on Rockfishes in British Columbia
Context
Pacific Rockfish (genus Sebastes) suffer high rates of barotrauma when they are brought to the ocean’s surface because they have a closed, or physoclistic, gas bladder. Although many jurisdictions recommend the use of descending devices that return recreationally caught fish with barotrauma to depth, little research on the use of these devices and the survival of recompressed fishes has been done in British Columbia.
Fisheries Management has requested advice from Science to inform decisions about management strategies for the recreational fishery that will achieve rockfish mortality reductions. It is expected that advice will be compliant with both the “DFO Sustainable Fisheries Framework” (SFF) policy and “A fishery decision-making framework incorporating the Precautionary Approach” (PA) policy.
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