Weight-length relationships of fishes discarded by trawlers in the north aegean sea

Abstract

Background. Weight-length relationships of discarded species can de used for the estimation of discarded quantities per species, if the species' length-frequency distribution is known. In this study, we present weight-length for 26 fish species discarded by commercial trawlers. Material and methods. We present weight-length relationships (W=aTLb), for 26 discarded fish species, from samples caught with commercial trawlers (diamond cod-end mesh size: 14 mm; nominal bar length), from October 1996 to May 1998 in the North Aegean Sea. Results. The values of the exponent b of the weight-length relationships of the 26 fish species differed between years for six species and ranged from 1.507 to 3.596 (median and mean: 3.068 and 2.968 respectively). Conclusion. Weight-length relationships for 5 out of the 26 fish species are presented for the first time.