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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 34 Number 4
December 2006
‘Eliminator Trawl’ nets clean haddock catches
This is the second installment in an ongoing series on the performance of various haddock net designs that fishermen and scientists around the region have been testing in cooperative research projects. The goal is to find a net that New England fishermen can use to target abundant haddock stocks while avoiding other low-quota species, particularly cod and yellowtail.
Here, Rhode Island researchers Dave Beutel and Laura Skrobe report on results of sea trials with the “Eliminator Trawl.”
—Editor
NARRAGANSETT, RI – The federal Cooperative Research Partners Program (CRPP) funded the research project entitled “Bycatch Reduction in the Directed Haddock Bottom Trawl Fishery” in 2004. This project investigated the use of a large-mesh squid net equipped with a rockhopper sweep to fish for haddock, while reducing the catch of other groundfish. One goal of the research was to develop a net to access haddock in a B-days-at-sea program.
Jon Knight of Superior Trawl in Wakefield, RI worked with fishermen Phil Ruhle Jr., Phil Ruhle Sr., and Jim O’Grady to develop the net, which has been named the “Eliminator Trawl.”
The industry partners collaborated with Laura Skrobe and David Beutel at the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island Sea Grant Fisheries Extension Program to conduct the scientific testing and data analysis. The CRPP worked closely with the investigators in all logistical and protocol aspects of this research and enhanced the success of this project.
Four week-long research trips using the side-by-side comparison method were conducted aboard the fishing vessels Sea Breeze and Iron Horse and involved more than 100 valid comparison tows. The trips on Georges Bank were in June, November, and December 2005, and April 2006.
Net configuration
The Eliminator works on the same concept as the separator trawl by exploiting the differences in groundfish behavior. Haddock rise when encountering a trawl, while the other groundfish dive toward the bottom.
Traditional groundfish nets are required to have 6" mesh throughout the net, while this trawl has large meshes – 240 centimeters (cm) or about 7.9' – that allow the groundfish to escape.
The upper section meshes of this net quickly graduate from 240 cm wings to 80 cm in the square and 20 cm in the first belly. The back bellies of this net are all made from 6" webbing.
A three-panel kite provides the vertical lift to between five and six fathoms of headrope height. This height, along with meshes on the top of the net that are smaller than the bottom meshes, captures the haddock while facilitating the escape of the other groundfish.
The control net was a traditional groundfish net with a rockhopper sweep. The Eliminator’s rockhopper sweep was different in that it had only one rockhopper disc per 2' bight, while the control sweep had 7 rockhopper discs in the same sized bight.
Catch results
Over the four research trips, the Eliminator caught slightly more haddock than the control – 31,519 pounds vs. 27,676 pounds. However, there were significant differences in the catches of cod, yellowtail flounder, winter flounder, grey sole, American plaice, and skates, with the control net catching more than the Eliminator.
Makes the grade
These results suggest some important possibilities for the fishing industry when trying to exploit healthy stocks while avoiding stocks of concern.
The Eliminator’s catch falls within the possession limit guidelines specified for the Regular B-days-at-sea program and may be an efficient tool to be utilized in existing special access programs that should be considered as an alternative to the separator trawl that is currently the selective gear specified for each program.
In a paper on bycatch published in Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries in 1996, Martin Hall suggested “the fishing industry will have to lead the way in the development of improved or alternative ways of fishing.”
Collaborative research has evolved over the years to a process that is now in many cases fisherman-driven. This study is a good example of scientists, industry, and managers working together to develop more selective fishing gear.
David Beutel
Laura Skrobe
Dave Beutel is a Rhode Island Sea Grant fisheries extension specialist who has worked with the fishing industry since 1977, including seven years as a commercial fisherman and eight years as a fishing gear manufacturer.
Also a Rhode Island Sea Grant fisheries extension specialist, Laura Skrobe has extensive experience with fisheries-related issues, including gear selectivity and stock assessment.
Both Skrobe and Beutel have particular interest and expertise in bycatch reduction and do considerable field research on commercial fishing vessels.
For more information on the “Eliminator Trawl” project contact them as follows: Dave Beutel, phone (401) 874-7152 or e-mail <dbeutel@uri.edu>; or Laura Skrobe, phone (401) 874-9360 or e-mail <lskrobe@uri.edu>.
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