Analysis of catch rates of LED lamps using on the falling-net fishing vessels in South China Sea

by Chunxi Wang, Qingxiang Chen, Zhengye Xiong, Zhiyu Chen, Rongchun Ye

Falling nets are a type of fishing gear that appeared and developed rapidly in the northern of South China Sea in the early 1990s. We have developed Light-emitting diode (LED) fishing lamps to replace metal halide (MH) lamps that reduce fuel consumption without reducing the catches. We conducted marine light-fishing experiments in the northern South China Sea during September 20 to 26, 2019 and August 29 to 31, 2021. The results in the first fishing experiment show that there is no significant change in catch of the falling-net fishing vessel when the white LED lamps (with a total power of 36 kW) were used instead of MH lamps (with a total power of 120 kW). Coleoidea catches of the falling-net fishing vessel increased significantly when white LED lamps (with a total power of 36 kW) and cyan LED lamps (with a total power of 6.0 kW) were used. The results in the second fishing experiment show that the total weight of catches of the cyan LED fishing lamps is more than that of the white LED fishing lamps, and the cyan LED light can attract Penaeus merguiensis, Thryssa dussumieri and Sardinella zunasi more effectively than the white LED light.