Tag Archives: Gear Innovation Technology and Advisory Group
Encouraging results from fishing trials with new trawl design for reducing unwanted catches
Preliminary fishing trials using a new design of prawn trawl developed to reduce unwanted bycatches of fish have produced encouraging results. The prototype trawl, which is the brainchild of fishing skipper Jimmy Buchan and netmaker Mark Buchan of Jackson Trawls, is designed to aid North Sea prawn fishermen comply with new Landing Obligation regulations (discard ban). Working in a project supported by The Gear Innovation Technology and Advisory Group (GITAG), initial fishing trials with the new trawl on the fishing vessel Amity II resulted in a significant drop in the amount of unwanted whitefish retained without any reduction in the prawn (langoustine) catch. Furthermore, the quality of the prawns was noticeably better compared with those caught in traditional trawls. Read the story here 11:34
