Improving the size selectivity and exploitation pattern of cocktail shrimp (Trachypenaeus curvirostris) in shrimp trawl fishery of the South China Sea.

In order to improve the size selectivity and exploitation pattern for cocktail shrimp (Trachypenaeus curvirostris) in shrimp trawl fishery of the South China Sea (SCS), selective properties of four codends were tested and compared. These experimental codends involved two mesh sizes, 30 and 35 mm, and two mesh shapes, diamond-mesh (T0) and diamond-mesh turned by 90 degree (T90), respectively. Our results demonstrated that increasing the mesh sizes in T0 codends or/and applying T90 codends would improve the selective properties for cocktail shrimp in the SCS. By comparing selectivity parameters, delta selectivity and exploitation pattern indicators, the T90 codend with 35-mm mesh size (T90_35) presented the best selective properties for cocktail shrimp in the studied areas. It will be a potential choice to substitute the currently legal codend in fisheries management to mitigate the bycatch of undersized cocktail shrimp in shrimp trawl fisheries of the SCS.