Do Alternative Leaders Affect Fish Catch in Pound Nets at the Mouth of Chesapeake Bay?

More than 60 stranded bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus exhibiting marks consistent with interactions with pound nets have been documented in the lower Chesapeake Bay since 1997. Given this high rate of bycatch, action is needed to mitigate bottlenose dolphin mortality. However, for any such modification to the pound net to be acceptable to fishers, a clear demonstration of no reduction in the targeted finfish catch will be required. Working with fishers, we evaluated the effect of an experimental pound net leader on finfish catch. The experimental leader entailed similar or greater catches of finfish than did the traditional leader. Further, catches of Batoidea (cownose ray Rhinoptera bonasus, bullnose ray Myliobatis freminvillei, southern stingray Dasyatis americana and Atlantic stingray D. sabina) and clearnose skates Raja eglanteria were reduced with the experimental leader. This example demonstrates that working with fishers to devise alternative harvest strategies can result in the implementation of conservation measures. Although finfish catch was maintained with the experimental leader design, we must continue to monitor bottlenose dolphin bycatch to confirm that the use of the experimental leader reduces the bottlenose dolphin mortality associated with pound nets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]