A study on the demersal fisheries resources of Edremit Bay

In this study, trawl catch data collected by bottom trawl from the Edremit Bay in the northeastern Aegean Sea (Turkey) with R/V K. Piri Reis during the three fisheries surveys (1-2 September 1999, 30 September 1999 and 11-12 December 2000) were analyzed. All trawl hauls were towed between 38-71 m depths in the inner part of the Edremit Bay, which was closed to bottom-trawl fishery. Each survey comprised eight hauls with three hour intervals. A total of 64 species were caught, containing 5 crustacean, 9 cephalopod, 9 cartilaginous fish and 41 bony fish. Almost 75% of the total catch was formed by bony fishes in the each sampling survey. Some of the dominant species in the sampling area such as hake (Merluccius merluccius), red mullet (Mullus barbatus), annular sea bream (Diplodus annularis), poor-cod (Trisopterus minutus capelanus), and lesser spotted dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula) constituted more than half of the total catch. The total estimated biomasses based on the swept area method were 662.8 kg/km super(2) for 1-2 September 1999, 1561.4 kg/km super(2) for 30 September 1999 and 1518.6 kg/km super(2) for 11-12 December 2000.