Tag Archives: ultra low opening trawl

New net opens a way to help fishermen and protect cod

Catching the wrong fish, or catching too much of a low-quota fish like cod, can end a season for a commercial fisherman. In recent years, the interstate New England Fishery Management Council has slashed the number of cod that can be landed from the Gulf of Maine from about 1,550 metric tons in 2014 to 280 metric tons now. Fishermen who catch too many, even by accident, can be shut down for the season. A team of scientists and fishermen led by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute has created a new kind of fishing net that can catch popular flatfish like yellowtail flounder without busting strict quotas set to protect the Atlantic cod from overfishing. The net redesign team was led by Eayrs, himself a former commercial fisherman in Australia, and Massachusetts state fisheries biologist Michael Pol. The team included four commercial fishermen from Massachusetts and New Hampshire, two other scientists and a Rhode Island netmaker. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Saltonstall-Kennedy program funded the $265,000 project in 2015, when it awarded $22 million in fisheries grants. Read the story here 07:57

New Trawl Avoids Cod

ulot_webA new fishing net has been designed in New England, US, which avoids catching cod while retaining flatfish, reports Gulf of Maine Research Institute. The net was designed in response to the drastic reduction in catch quotas for Gulf of Maine cod. The reduced quotas have made it difficult to target other species that are more abundant. The ultra low opening trawl (ULOT) has a smaller vertical opening than a typical trawl net; just over 2 feet compared to the 6-foot opening in standard nets. This design allows for cod to swim up and over the net, escaping capture. Read the rest here. – Read more about this – Ultra-Low-Opening Groundfish Trawl Development This project is a collaboration with scientists (Mike Pol – MA DMF; Chris Glass – UNH; Pingguo He – SMAST), fishermen (Jim Ford – F/V Lisa Ann III; Dan Murphy – F/V Bantry Bay, Tom Testaverde – F/V Midnight Sun) and a net maker (Jon Knight – Superior Trawl). Click here to read 13:31