Catch composition and catch efficiency of species caught from Homa Lagoon (Izmir Bay, Aegean Sea)

Abstract

This study was conducted in order to estimate the present status of fishery in Homa Lagoon, which belongs to Ege University Faculty of Fisheries and is used for Educational catch yield, catch composition purposes, and determine length-weight relationships of the economically important species. It was studied between June 2004 and December 2006. At the end of the study, totally 65 species were determined, which were caught with different fisheries devices (fences trap, trammel nets, veranda net, fyke net and beach seine). Of the determined taxa, 37 species belong to Osteichtyes, 15 to Gastropoda, 10 to Crustacea, 2 to Chondrichtyes and one to Cephalopoda. Some of the fishing gears and their catch per unit effort (CPUE) values were determined as follows: 102.43 kg/day for fences trap, 21.28 kg/operation*75m. for veranda nets, 10.82 kg/day*100 fyke net for fyke net and 4.19 kg/operation* 100m. for trammel nets CPUE yield values of Homa Lagoon are as follows; 27.79 kg/ha for 2004, 13.75 kg/ha for 2005, and 20.94 kg/ha for 2006, respectively. The mean value over the last three years is 20.83 kg/ha.