Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Size Selectivity of Square-Mesh Codends in Stownet for <i>Coilia mystus</i> in the South China Sea.
By Yan L et al.·2025·College of Marine Living Resource Sciences and Management, China·View original on Europe PMC →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Plain-English summary
This study looked at a type of fishing gear called stownet, which is commonly used to catch a fish species known as Coilia mystus in the South China Sea. Researchers tested different sizes of square mesh openings in the net to see how well they could catch larger fish while letting smaller ones escape. They found that as the mesh size increased, the nets were better at selecting larger fish, but even the largest mesh size tested still allowed too many young fish to be caught. The findings suggest that the current net design needs to be improved to better protect juvenile Coilia mystus and ensure sustainable fishing practices.
Abstract
Stownet is one of the most important items of fishing gear for catching <i>Coilia mystus</i> in China's coastal waters. To improve the selectivity of stownet for <i>C. mystus</i>, a series of selectivity experiments were conducted using the covered net method with 4 square-mesh codends of different mesh sizes of 25 mm, 30 mm, 35 mm, and 40 mm. The selectivity curves of <i>C. mystus</i> under different mesh sizes were fitted using the Logistic and Richards models, and the selectivity parameters were compared among codends. The results showed that the 50% selection length (L50) increased with mesh size, reaching 105.83 mm, 109.02 mm, 114.36 mm, and 116.66 mm, respectively. The proportion of juvenile <i>C. mystus</i> in the codends decreased correspondingly, indicating that larger mesh sizes improved the selectivity of the square-mesh codend. Based on the linear relationship between L50 and mesh size, the minimum mesh size for <i>C. mystus</i> was estimated to be 43.81 mm. Considering the management regulation of the minimum landing size (120 mm) for <i>C. mystus</i>, the L50 obtained for the 40 mm square-mesh was still below this standard, suggesting that the selectivity of the current codend requires further optimization to promote the sustainable utilization of <i>C. mystus</i> resources.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on Europe PMC: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/41463856