[Characteristics of fish aggregation devices (FADs)and associated tuna schools behavior in Chinese tuna purse seine fishery.]

The use of fish aggregation devices (FADs) can increase catchability of tuna purse seine for associated tuna schools. In the past decades, large scale deployments of FADs have drawn the international attention due to their negative effects on the marine environment. Finding a FAD design ecologically and economically compatible has therefore become a challenge for tuna purse seine fishe-ry. Nowadays, knowledge and comprehension of interaction between FADs and catch species are quite lacking as a result of limited experimental investigation. We interviewed the captain of Chinese tuna purse seiner based on questionnaire to summarize the status of FADs deployment strategy, structural design, capture and ecological characteristics, and the behavior characteristics of associa-ted schools from the perspective of fishermen's knowledge and experience. We also quantified the cognitive differences of the investigated issues based on the index of consistency (IoC). Our results showed that: 1) the average number of year-round FADs deployment was (102±37) per vessel, and the number of that being lost was (72±1). 2) empirical knowledge from fishing masters indicated that man-made FADs could attract more tuna than natural floating objects ( 金枪鱼围网渔船使用人工集鱼装置(FADs)可以增加对金枪鱼随附鱼群的捕捞能力,而大规模投放FADs引起的生态问题在数十年间引起了国际社会的广泛关注。因此,开发高效集鱼能力并降低生态影响的FADs是金枪鱼围网渔业面临的挑战。由于缺乏大量试验研究,目前对FADs和捕捞物种之间相互关系的理解极其有限。本研究通过对从事金枪鱼围网捕捞生产的船长进行问卷调查,从渔民经验的角度总结了FADs的投放现状、结构设计、捕捞和生态特性,以及随附鱼群的行为特征等,并基于一致性指数(IoC)对调查内容的认知差异进行量化。结果表明: 我国金枪鱼围网船单船每年平均投放的FADs数量为(102±37),丢失数量为(72±15)。FADs的集鱼效果优于天然流木,水下悬挂结构是吸引金枪鱼的主要原因,且悬挂吸引物(如漂带)有助于诱集金枪鱼集群。FADs投放后金枪鱼的首次出现时间平均约32 d,此后的1个月内集群量趋于稳定;海龟或鲨鱼被FADs网状结构缠绕的情况偶有发生。被调查者对“生物附着对集群效果的影响”和“优化FADs隐蔽性的意愿”两个问题的反馈具有较高的一致性(IoC均为0.73),对“筏体结构类型对集群效果影响”的反馈答案分歧较大(IoC=0.34)。当前FADs的设计存在低隐蔽性和导致非目标鱼种高脆弱性的弊端。研究结果可为开发生态效应和捕捞效益兼具的生态友好型FADs提供科学依据。.