COMMERCE
Subscriber Services
Classified Ads
Subscribe
Advertise
NEWS
This Month
Editorial
Letters
F/V Safety
Past Issues
ABOUT US
Contact Us
Latest Issue
Subscribe
History
MORE CONTENT
CFN Archives
Links
Each month exclusively in the PRINT edition of CFN
Along the Coast
Ask the Lobster Doc
Bearin’s
Classifieds
Coming Events
Editorial
Enforcement Report
FISH SAFE
Fleet Additions
Letters
Lobster Market Report
New Boats
News Catch
Quahog Market Report
|
Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 35 Number 8
April 2008
Hybrid shrimp trawl radically cuts fish, small shrimp bycatch
HAMPTON, NH – Dave Goethel, a New Hampshire fisherman of 35 years, turned collaborative research net advances into success this shrimping season.
The southern Gulf of Maine tends to have mixy shrimp at times, and the hybrid net, dubbed “the topless trawl,” not only caught shrimp, but also dramatically reduced the retention of unwanted small shrimp and finfish, especially herring.
“I was sick of getting killed by the price of small shrimp. The net fishes like crazy. I’d never go back to the standard shrimp trawl,” said Goethel.
According to Ken La Valley, a commercial fishing technology specialist at the New Hampshire Sea Grant Program at the University of New Hampshire (UNH), Goethel combined two techniques that UNH scientist Pingguo He developed separately – the dual grid system and the topless shrimp trawl.
“On his own, Goethel put them into one net. It’s like a standard modified shrimp net,” said La Valley.
How it works
Goethel explained that “all of the sorting action is ahead of the net’s extension.”
When caught in the net, fish like herring and haddock rise and escape through the topless net section that begins about 5' ahead of the extension.
As the big shrimp make their way to the cod end, small shrimp and any leftover finfish are further released through a series of two grates that are fitted into the extension.
First there is the rectangular-shaped small-shrimp sorting grate, which has 7/16" spacing between its bars. That’s followed by a funnel and the more oval-shaped Nordmore grate with 1" spacing between bars.
Catch results
Goethel operates his 44' Stanley dragger, Ellen Diane, out of Hampton harbor with Igors Makasins and began shrimping on Jan. 25.
“Igors and I have more than held our own against similar size gear. The net has reduced my herring catch by 95%, and we haven’t caught many small whiting,” Goethel said.
It also improved his overall count per pound for shrimp.
“For the early-on, 60-80-count shrimp catches, our count would be around 50,” he continued. “The net gets rid of all of the one-year-old shrimp and half of the two-year-olds.”
Of course, he added, “If the regular shrimp counts are 50 or below, this net obviously doesn’t do much to further reduce the shrimp count.”
The Ellen Diane’s best bottom fishing time netted about 15 totes per hour of high-40- to low-50-count shrimp. As of mid-March, daily catches of still large shrimp had dropped to about 2,600 pounds. The shrimp have yielded the vessel about 41 cents per pound after shipping and handling.
Goethel, who helped develop and test the topless trawl with He, gave the credit to Pingguo He for providing scientific expertise and to two fellow fishermen.
Vincent Balzano of the North Star out of Portland developed the small-shrimp sorting grid, he said, and Carl Bouchard of the Stormy Weather out of Seabrook did much of the at-sea research. Trawlworks Inc. of Narragansett, RI built Goethel’s original net.
La Valley explained, “David modified his original net, creating the topless portion, and Vincent Balzano was responsible for building the dual grid portion of the hybrid net. The dual grid is incorporated within the extension piece just before the codend. All David needed to do was ‘zip’ the extension piece containing the dual grid into his net.”
The research was funded through the National Marine Fisheries Service and Northeast Consortium.
Goethel concluded with this advice.
“I tell this to my fellow shrimpers: First of all, if you are thinking of buying a new net anyway, definitely go with the topless trawl. Secondly, this net doesn’t cost any more than the standard net. The sweep of my regular net was 69'. The new net’s is 78'. Although it’s about 10% bigger and covers more bottom, it tows the same rpm-wise,” he said.
Anyone interested in learning more about the “topless trawl” can call Ken La Valley at (603) 862-4343.
Peter K. Prybot
Back to story list
|
|
Tell us what you think.
