A. Mesh selectivity of trawl net
Bottom trawler is a fishing method with unselective and high bycatch rates. In order to find out the catch rate of immature fish caught by bottom trawler in northern waters off Taiwan, a mesh selectivity experiment was conducted by R/V Hai-Fu (Fisheries Research Institute) with 27 experimental hauls in four cruises during March to November, 2009. The mesh size of trawl net at cod end was 7.5cm and its outside attached cover net was 2.1cm. The selection spans and factors of species with biomass large/equal to 0.5 were measured. The escape rate of lizard fish (Saurida undosquamis) from cod net into cover net was 95.66%. And the others of yellow croaker (Larimichthys polyactis), silver croaker (Pennahia argentata), Japanese jack mackerel (Trachurus japonicus), sand crab (Ovalipes punctatus), black month croaker (Atrobucca nibe) and swordtip squid (Uroteuthis (P.) edulis) was 93.06, 90.57, 78.53, 50, 48.02 and 43.02%, respectively. As the results, expanding the mesh size of cod end to 75 mm may afford more than one chance to spawn for seven species such as lizard fish.
B. Survey of demersal fish resources in northern waters off Taiwan
The investigation on species composition in the northern waters off Taiwan was conducted in 2010 with 44 hauls in 4 cruises. All specimens of 279 species of 112 families were recorded and including 192 species of 79 families of fishes, 23 species of 6 families of shrimps, 34 species of 10 families of crabs, 25 species of 12 families of molluscs, 1 species of 1 family of horseshoe crab, 2 species of 2 families of sea star, and 1 species of 1 family of sea pen. The CPUE of 2010 year were 14.24 kg/hr (10.27~17.88 kg/hr) in spring, 15.32 kg/hr (7.13~30.76 kg/hr) in summer, 52.5 kg/hr (9.79~112.0 kg/hr) in autumn, and the result of winter cruise was analyzing.
C. Reproductive character of the Lizard (saurida undosquamis) in Ih-Lan Bay, Taiwan.
The monthly variation of gonadosomatic index (GSI) of lizard fish, collected from I-lan bay, indicated that increased at February and decreased to relative low value at September in female, but with less variation in male. We suggested that the spawning season of lizard fish was estimated as February to September.
D.Analysis the demersal fish assemblages in Ih-Lan Bat, Taiwan.
Abundance biomass comparison (ABC) curve were applied to analyze the data collected from Nan-ning fishery harbor for assessing the demersal fish assemblages in I-lan bay. Cluster analysis showed the same trend in abundance, evenness, and diversity in each month. The highest value of diversity, evenness, and abundance were 3.11, 0.84, and 6.45 in September, July, and June, respectively. The abundance curves were above the biomass curves in April and May, or the curves intersected in July to September, indicated that the present fish community was affected.