Research and Experiments
Hand-Line experiments in Canaries and Guadeloupe

Experimental fishing targeting small scale deep-water bottom fisheries using hand-line experiments in Canaries and Guadeloupe

What is the hand-line ?

Hand-line is a fishing technique where the fisherman holds in one hand the line, possibly wound on a reel, with a number of hooks that goes from 3 up to 9. Fisherman are known by being superstitious, they only use an unpair number of hooks... This fishing method does not make contact with the ocean floor and causes minimal amounts of habitat damage. This fishing technique is very labor-intensive, but it is highly selective concerning species and size, and provides high quality fish. As the line is set for a relatively short time, it allows that discards can often be returned live at sea.

The data collected on past experimental fishing serve as a guide for the implementation of deep-sea fishing experiments with handlines in Canaries and Guadeloupe

Activities included in the experiments

Gathering up-to-date bathymetry data for the Canaries and Guadeloupe where deep-sea fishing experiments are conducted
Analysis of the reports on the existing fisheries and past fishing experiments in order to guide the planning of deep-sea fishing experiments
Planning of the survey deep-sea fishing experiments with handlines down to 300m depth
Deep-sea fishing experimentations in Canaries in the beginning of May 2018 and then in Guadeloupe in July 2018
Analysis of the main findings of the low impact fishing experiments and building of a report highlighting the lessons learned and pointing ways forward
Exchange of knowledge on low-impact deep-sea fishing experiments among fishermen from different ORs

Do you want to know more?

  • Experiments workplan [work in progress]
  • Minutes of daily fishing trips [work in progress]
  • Survey monitoring report (Available in May 2019)
  • Updated report on the work [work in progress]
  • Final report of the activity (Available in May 2019)

Partners involved in this experiment