A netting-based alternative to rigid sorting grids in the small-meshed Norway pout (Trisopterus esmarkii) trawl fishery.

ABSTRACT: A new bycatch reduction device, termed "Excluder", is presented as an alternative to a traditional rigid sorting grid, mandatory in the small-meshed Norway Pout (Trisopterus esmarkii) trawl fishery in the North Sea. The fishery is a high-volume fishery with large vessels, large demersal trawls and catches up to 100 tons per haul of this small forage fish. The Excluder is a 30 m long netting-based sorting system, developed to reduce bycatch (70 mm square meshes) and improving on board gear-handling and safety. The Excluder was tested against a 5.8 m2 standard sorting grid (35 mm bar spacing) in a twin-trawl experiment from the commercial 70 m trawler "S364 Rockall". Catch data were analysed by species and length using the catch comparison method. For all bycatch species analysed, the Exclud

SUBMITTER: Eigaard OR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7842884 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature