Fate of discards from prawn trawlers in Torres Strait [Queensland; aquatic animals]
1990
Hill, B.J. | Wassenberg, T.J. (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Cleveland (Australia). Div. of Fisheries)
Fish made up 78 percent, non-commercial crustaceans 18 percent, and cephalopods 3 percent by weight of the material studied. Nearly all fish were dead when discarded, and about half sank. About half of the non-commercial crustaceans were alive when discarded and all sank when discarded. Few cephalopods (2 percent) were alive when discarded, and around 75 percent sank. Sharks and dolphins were the most common scavengers of floating discards at night. Birds scavenged only during the day. Discarding from trawlers has the effect of transferring large quantities of biological material from the bottom to the surface. This makes available to surface scavengers food that would otherwise be inaccessible.
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