Boat seines in Greece: Landings profiles and identification of potential métiers

Abstract

Although boat seines have a significant share in the total fish landings in Greece, there is little information on boat seine fisheries. The present study aims to identify boat seine métiers on a national level and contribute to a better understanding of their operation in Greece. We used boat seine landings data collected from a large number of ports in the Aegean and east Ionian Sea between 2002 and 2006. The landings profiles were grouped with a two-step procedure: the first step involved a factorial analysis of the log-transformed landings profiles, and the second step was a classification of the factorial coordinates (hierarchical agglomerative clustering). Six métiers were identified in the Aegean Sea, and three in the Ionian Sea. The ‘picarel-bogue’ métier was the most important in both seas, accounting for 54% and 88% of the fishing trips of the sample in the Aegean and Ionian Seas respectively. Apart from picarel and bogue, other important target species were red mullet, European squid, common pandora, chub mackerel, and European pilchard. Varying spatial (within the Aegean and Ionian Seas) and seasonal patterns were evident for the identified métiers.