for valuable swordfish in the northeast Atlantic. The 

 nets, made of 18-inch stretched mesh, are generally 90 

 feet deep and one mile long. Nets are deployed at 

 night, 18 feet below the surface, with one end attached 

 to a fishing vessel. The nets are pulled at dawn. 

 This fishery bears close watching. One fisherman 

 reports catching turtles within these gill nets (O'Hara 

 et al. 1986, p. 77-81) . 



Pound Nets ; A pound net is a large stationary trap 

 constructed of netting supported by poles or stakes (Figure 4). 

 A line of netting, generally running perpendicularly from shore, 

 directs fish moving along shore into a series of nets leading to 

 a bag of netting in which the fish are impounded. 



New York Pound Net Fishery ; The pound net fishery in 

 New York's Long Island area is directed at bluefish, 

 butter fish, Atlantic mackerel, porgy, and sea trout, 

 and lasts from early spring through fall. About 100 

 fishermen participate in this fishery. Recent 

 interviews of fishermen indicate that these nets 

 annually capture 10 to 20 sea turtles, principally 

 Kemp's ridleys. Most of these turtles are released 

 alive (O'Hara et al. 1986, p. 46-48). 



Chesapeake Pound Net Fishery ; Pound nets are set out 

 in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries from spring 

 through autumn to fish for alewives, bluefish, croaker, 

 spot, shad, butter fish, sea trout, striped bass, and 

 white perch. The Virginia Institute of Marine Science 

 has recorded sea turtle mortalities since 1979. The 

 majority of the mortalities are loggerheads with Kemp's 

 ridleys making up less than five percent of the total. 

 The peak of 80-200 mortalities occurs in early June 

 each year. 



Nets in areas of strong tidal currents or in deep water 

 are likely to catch and drown turtles. Likewise, 

 larger mesh nets (12-16 inches stretched mesh) are more 

 likely to entangle and drown turtles than smaller mesh. 

 Also, most turtle mortalities occur when the turtles 

 enter the bay after their taxing migration from the 

 south. Turtles may be attracted to pound nets by the 

 presence of crustaceans that have themselves been 

 attracted by the epibiotic growth on the nets (O'Hara 

 et al. 1986, p. 51-53) . 



Lonalines ; Longlining fisheries exploded with the 

 introduction of synthetic monofilament line. In this type of 

 fishery, thousands of baited hooks are suspended from leaders 

 attached to a main fishing line up to 50 miles long (Figure 5) . 

 This main fishing line is suspended from floats at depths 



55 



