DETERMINING THE SEVERITY OF SKIN INJURIES OF RED MULLET, MULLUS BARBATUS (ACTINOPTERYGII: PERCIFORMES: MULLIDAE), INFLICTED DURING ESCAPE FROM TRAWL CODEND

Background. The authors suggest that skin injury, particularly scale loss, during the capture may be one reason of the escape mortality. However, skin and fin damages are not responsible for all of the observed mortalities occurring during the fish passage through the mesh of the trawl codend. Nevertheless, physical damages may expose escapees to secondary infections from bacteria and fungi. This study investigated the types and occurrence of deformation for red mullet escapees to better understand the cause of their death. Improving the survival rate by using alternative gear modifications require detailed information on assessments of escape mortality including trawl gear-induced injuries. Therefore we aimed to determine the damages of body parts among the escaped red mullet from trawl codends.