Tag Archives: Bycatch Reduction Devices

North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries to begin industry funded survey of shrimp trawl fishermen

February 24, 2020   South Atlantic

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries will begin contacting shrimp trawl and skimmer trawl vessel operators in the coming weeks for a survey about the types of gear they use.  The division wants to know what bycatch reduction devices and turtle excluder devices are currently used in the North Carolina commercial shrimp fishery. The survey also includes questions about overall gear configurations, as well as some socioeconomic information, such as costs and revenues of the shrimping business.The survey is being conducted at the request of the Marine Fisheries Commission and the commercial fishing industry. The survey is funded by the North Carolina Commercial Fishing Resource Fund, which receives money from commercial fishing license sales and supports a grant program that is managed by commercial fishing industry stakeholders. >click to read<  10:22

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North Carolina: New trawl Bycatch Reduction Devices show promise

January 11, 2017   Mid Atlantic

A state-initiated fishing industry workgroup is getting promising results with prototype bycatch reduction devices in shrimp trawls, and plans more tests this year. An industry work group created by the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission met Monday at the Riverfront Convention Center to discuss ongoing testing of prototype BRDs, devices and gear configurations designed to reduce the amount of finfish and other marine life caught incidentally when fishing for a certain species, in this case shrimp. The group discussed the results of tests conducted in 2016 with four different BRDs towed by volunteer commercial shrimp harvesters, as well as set priorities for additional testing for this year. Last year was the first of a three-year research project the work group is conducting.  Jerry Schill, executive director of the N.C. Fisheries Association, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting the state’s fishing industry, said the results from last year’s tests were “very positive.” “Even the (the work group members) were surprised at some of the results,” Mr. Schill said. “Ever since I started (in the fishing industry) 30 years ago, we’ve been trying to reduce bycatch in shrimp trawls.” Read the story here 15:01

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