In the Northeast Atlantic deep-water shrimp (Pandalus borealis) trawl fishery, the bycatch of juvenile fish and shrimp represents a problem. This study evaluated if inserting a 200 mm mesh size top-panel in the last three sections of the tapered upper belly section of the trawl could reduce bycatch of juveniles while maintaining the catch efficiency for deep-water shrimp. The bycatch species ...

Several shrimp trawl fisheries use a Nordmöre sorting grid to avoid bycatch of fish. However, small fish can pass through the grid. Therefore, the retention of juvenile fish often remains an issue during shrimp trawling. We investigated the vertical distribution of deepwater shrimp (<i>Pandalus borealis</i>) and dominant bycatch species at the point where the Nordmöre grid section is installed. This ...

Damage incurred during the catch process is an indicator of the overall quality of fish and fish welfare. Because catch quality is difficult to improve once it has deteriorated, it is important to preserve quality during the catch process. Atlantic cod (<i>Gadus morhua</i>) is the most important species in the Barents Sea bottom trawl fishery. Bottom trawling is a non-benign fishing method, and it ...

Gillnets made of the biodegradable resin polybutylene succinate co-adipate-co-terephthalate were tested under commercial fishing conditions to compare their fishing performance with that of conventional nylon polyamide (PA) gillnets. Both types of gillnets were made of 0.55 mm Ø monofilaments. However, since the biodegradable nets are weaker than nylon PA nets when using the same monofilament diameter, ...

The growing interest in harvesting mesopelagic fish species has increased the need for knowledge about how trawls should be designed for optimizing the catch efficiency of these resources. Since the net herding efficiency for small mesopelagic fish species is unknown, trawls targeting these species need to consider the potential net panel selectivity along the entire trawl body. Therefore, trawl ...