using a Swedish grid with a bottom gap

to reduce fish discards in a Nephrops trawl

Target species:
Nephrops

Area, Vessel
12 quad-rig catch comparison hauls took place in the western Irish Sea (ICES VIIa) on board MFV Our Lass II (DA261) (21.7m, 484kW) during September 2015.
Gear type:
demersal (quad rig)

Gear modification
The test gear was fitted with a Swedish grid that had (i) Vertical bars spaced 35mm apart in the lower and upper halves of the grid (ii) A 15cm reinforced horizontal gap in the bottom of the grid (iii) An escape hole in the top sheetforward of the grid. The standard gear was identical but without a rigid grid. Nominal codend mesh size was 70mm for both gears.


Results:
There was a substantial reduction in whiting, cod and haddock across all length classes, and a small reduction in catches of Nephrops across all length classes.
Further information:
Daragh Browne browned@bim.ie <A href=http://www.bim.ie/our-publications/fisheries/> http://www.bim.ie/our-publications/fisheries/ </A>




Citation :
Browne, D. , 2017. using a Swedish grid with a bottom gap . In O’Neill, F.G. and Mutch, K. (Eds): Selectivity in Trawl Fishing Gears. Scottish Marine and Freshwater Science Vol 8 No 1.