Diamond and square mesh codends

to improve selection and reduce discards in the Greek demersal trawl fishery

Target species:
Hake, red mullet, striped mullet, rose shrimp and Nephrops.

Area, Vessel
162 hauls were carried out in the South Aegean Sea on board the Takis-Mimis NX 411 (29m, 357kW) during 2014 and 2015.
Gear type:
demersal trawl

Gear modification
The catching performance of codends made of (i) 40 mm diamond mesh (ii) 40 mm square mesh and (iii) 50 mm diamond mesh were compared.


Results:
In general, there were more escapes from the 40 mm square and the 50 mm diamond codends. Nevertheless, commercial catch was not significantly altered, except for stripped mullet in the 50mm diamond mesh codend.The 40 mm square mesh reduced discards of hake, rose shrimp and nephrops. The 50 mm diamond mesh codend reduced discards of rose shrimp and Nephrops.
Further information:
Chryssi Mytilineou, chryssi@hcmr.gr <BR/> <A href=http://epilexis.hcmr.gr/index.php?lang=en > http://epilexis.hcmr.gr/index.php?lang=en </A>




Citation :
Mytilineou, C. , 2017. Diamond and square mesh codends . In O’Neill, F.G. and Mutch, K. (Eds): Selectivity in Trawl Fishing Gears. Scottish Marine and Freshwater Science Vol 8 No 1.