Attracting and Controlling Coastal Pelagic Fish with Nightlights

Field experiments were conducted in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico to evaluate techniques for using sequentially-operated lamp strings and moving lamps to lead and concentrate light-attracted coastal pelagic fishes. Fish were successfully led between sequentially-operated under-water lamps separated by distances up to 20 meters. Mobile lamps were used to lead fish distances up to approximately 1 kilometer. Fish aggregations which form daily around man-made structures were held after dark and led clear with moving lamps for capture by purse seine. A combination of nightlighting and man-made structure fish attraction techniques are proposed for harvesting coastal pelagic fish aggregations which occur around existing petroleton drilling platforms, well heads, and other areas presently inaccessible to conventional fishing gear.