Effectiveness of northern shrimp trawls designed to reduce megafauna bycatch

Authors
Andrade, S.M.V., Bayse, S.M., Snook, M., Kelly, D., Winger, P.D., DeLouche, H., Araya-Schmidt, T., and M.R. Santos
Year
Journal/Publisher Name
ICES Journal of Marine Science
Volume (Issue #)
82(8)
Contact information
Shannon M. Bayse, Fisheries and Marine Institute, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador,
Canada. E-mail: Shannon.Bayse@mi.mun.ca
Summary

Large escape openings located at the sorting grid panel, which could be a beneficial tool to reduce marine megafauna bycatch, such as Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus), did not impact northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) catch rates in comparison to traditional trawl gear. 

Link
https://watermark02.silverchair.com/fsaf150.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_E…

Field Studies

Effectiveness of northern shrimp trawls designed to reduce megafauna bycatch

Study Type
Field study in the wild
Location
Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
Target catch
Northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis)
Effect on bycatch species
Unknown. No Greenland sharks were observed during the study.
Effect on target catch
No difference in catch rates vs. traditional gear, but a slight reduction in catch of larger shrimp. However, when escape openings were located before the Nordmore grid, rather than at the grid, catch decreased by 18%.
Bycatch species
Somniosus microcephalus (Greenland shark)
Reduction technique
Excluder devices
Fishing Gear
Trawls