Application of three materials of fishing gear marking for crab and fish gillnets in small-scale fishery in the Andaman Sea coast of Thailand

Gillnets are an important fishing gear in both inland and marine capture fisheries. However, gillnets can cause ghost fishing and create negative impacts on ecosystems when they become abandoned, lost, or otherwise dis-carded fishing gear (ALDFG). Fishing gear marking (FGM) is a tool to indicate the ownership of fishing gear and address ALDFG. The main objective of this study was to compare the durability of FGMs made of three material types, i.e., stainless steel (SS), colored acrylic (CA), and plastic tape (PT). We carried out experiments in the Andaman Sea off Phang Nga Province, Thailand between July 2020 and May 2021. Both crab and fish gillnet fishers performed one fishing day per trip, and the fishing ground was muddy sand with bottom depth of 25-30 m. All characters of the codes on FGMs still remained before FGMs were removed or lost. Most FGMs were removed from the headrope of gillnets during the fishing operation, while some FGMs lasted until the end of lifespan of gillnets. The durability of the three material types of FGM was clearly different between crab and fish gillnets where it was less than three months for crab gillnet and less than seven months for fish gillnet. Among the three material types of FGM, SS and CA had higher durability than PT for both crab and fish gillnets. For the implementation of FGM system, we recommend further development of FGM practice to alleviate ALDFG and support responsible fisheries.