Bottom Trawl Discard off the Karatas (Northeastern Mediterranean, Turkey)

This study was carried out in 2002 and 2003 off the Karatas, located along the northeastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The deep trawl net was operated with a one-hour haul duration at three stations. During the study period, based on species, a total of 90 fish, five cephalopods, and 16 crustaceans were caught. On average, 37.9% of the total catch was discarded. The discard proportion of the total catch and the mean discard for each station varied monthly, ranging from 23.4% to 44.5%, and in each station as 13.2%, 21.4%, and 3.3% for Station I, Station II, and Station III, respectively. The main component of the discard was fish (68.6%), followed by crustaceans (26.7%) and cephalopods (4.7%). Among them, the most important discard was a crustacean species, namely Charybdis longicollis (9.5% of the total catch and 25.1% of the discard biomass). Despite its insights, the study is limited by temporal and spatial scope, indicating a need for broader, year-round assessments and expanded ecological monitoring in future research.