ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil Advance Access originally published online on July 12, 2007
ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 2007 64(8):1543-1550; doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsm099
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Separating species using a horizontal panel in the Scottish North Sea whitefish trawl fishery
Fisheries Research Services Marine Laboratory, PO Box 101, 375 Victoria Road, Torry, Aberdeen, AB11 9DB, UK
Correspondence to R. S. T. Ferro: tel: +44 1224 876544; fax: +44 1224 295511; e-mail: ferro{at}marlab.ac.uk
Ferro, R. S. T., Jones, E. G., Kynoch, R. J., Fryer, R. J., and Buckett, B-E. 2007. Separating species using a horizontal panel in the Scottish North Sea whitefish trawl fishery. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64: 1543–1550.In the North Sea, Scottish vessels target haddock, cod, whiting, monkfish, saithe, and flatfish in a mixed whitefish trawl fishery. These species mature at different sizes and hence have a range of minimum landing sizes. Their different shapes and swimming capabilities imply different selection characteristics when escaping from trawl gear. However, they are often caught at the same time on the same grounds. Optimal exploitation can only be achieved by ensuring that the selection of each species varies appropriately with length during the fishing process. This paper describes one part of a large European project to develop species-selective trawl gear to improve the exploitation pattern of North Sea cod, while maintaining the catch of other important commercial species. A gear suitable to the Scottish mixed whitefish fishery was fitted with a horizontal panel in the tapered part of the net to separate species into an upper and lower compartment. Trials were conducted on research vessels to measure separation performance for nine species in different light conditions, at different towing speeds, and with different lengths of panel. Most haddock, whiting, and saithe pass above the panel, whereas most cod, flatfish, and monkfish pass below it. Towing speed and panel length had no significant effect on separation. At lower light levels during the night (April at latitude 58° to 61°N), fewer dab, sole, plaice, and cod pass below the panel. Observations and measurements of fish behaviour using acoustic methods are described. They suggest that the height at which fish enter the net mouth may be influenced by light level and water clarity.
Keywords: cod, demersal otter trawl, light level, separating panel, species separation, towing speed
Received 1 September 2006; accepted 15 April 2007; advance access publication 12 July 2007.
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