DiscardLess project - Discard Mitigation Strategies Toolbox

Introduction

Aims

DiscardLess selectivity manual and factsheet

All the Documents (Manual and Factsheets) are issued from Scottish Marine and Freshwater Science and can be downloaded here : Scottish Marine and Freshwater Science website

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 633680

reducing the number of meshes in circumference

to improve the selection of roundfish of a beam trawl codend

Target species:
sole

Area, Vessel
15 twin beam trawl tows were carried out in the Southern North Sea (ICES IVa) on board the RV Belgica.

Gear type:
beam

Gear modification
Diamond meshes have the tendency to close when put under tension and their lateral opening reduces. The more meshes around the circumference of the codend, the smaller the lateral mesh opening will be. Hence, a codend with 80 meshes in circumference should retain fewer roundfish than one with 100 meshes in circumference. In these trials the catches of a standard 80 mm diamond mesh codend with 100 meshes in circumference are compared with the catches of an 80mm diamond mesh codend with 80 meshes in circumference.

Results:
The codend with 80 meshes in circumference released more pouting and sole than the codend with 100 meshes in circumference.

Further information:
ADVIS II - ALTERNATIEVEN VOOR DE BOOMKORVISSERIJ. ILVO mededeling 134 heleen.lenoir@ilvo.vlaanderen.be, hans.polet@ilvo.vlaanderen.be, bart.verschueren@ilvo.vlaanderen.be

Citation :
Lenoir, H., Polet, H. and Depestele, J. , 2017. reducing the number of meshes in circumference . In O’Neill, F.G. and Mutch, K. (Eds): Selectivity in Trawl Fishing Gears. Scottish Marine and Freshwater Science Vol 8 No 1.