The catches from five experimental trawls (TED + fisheye BRD, upward facing TED, downward facing TED, bigeye BRD and square-mesh panel BRD) were compared to those of the standard twin Florida Flyer prawn trawl. Nets with a combination of a TED and BRD reduced sea turtle catches by 100%, large sponges by 85.3%, sharks by 36.3% and rays by 17.7% and reduced the proportion of soft and damaged prawns by 41.6% and catches of tiger prawns by 6.5%. Upward and downward facing TEDs reduced sea turtle bycatch by 99% and 100% respectively and large sponges by 81.6% and 95.9% respectively. Catches of tiger prawns (P. semisulcatus and P. esculentus) were reduced by 6.3% with the use of TEDs. The BRDs had little impact on the catch of either target or bycatch species.
Year
Journal/Publisher Name
Fisheries Research
Volume (Issue #)
81
Page #s
176-188
Contact information
David Brewer:
+61 7 3826 7200
David.Brewer@csiro.au
+61 7 3826 7200
David.Brewer@csiro.au
Summary
Field Studies
The impact of turtle excluder devices and bycatch reduction devices on diverse tropical marine communities in Australia's northern prawn trawl fishery
Study Type
Field study in the wild
Location
Northern Australia
Target catch
Prawns
Effect on bycatch species
TEDs and TEDs+BRDs reduced sea turtle bycatch by ~99-100%
Effect on target catch
6% reduction, but 41% reduction in soft and damaged prawns
Bycatch species
Reduction technique
Fishing Gear
The impact of turtle excluder devices and bycatch reduction devices on diverse tropical marine communities in Australia's northern prawn trawl fishery
Study Type
Field study in the wild
Location
Northern Australia
Target catch
Prawns
Effect on bycatch species
~5% fewer in nets with TED+BRD compared w/ control; TED only or BRD only did not differ from control
Effect on target catch
6% reduction, but 41% reduction in soft and damaged prawns
Bycatch species
Reduction technique
Fishing Gear
The impact of turtle excluder devices and bycatch reduction devices on diverse tropical marine communities in Australia's northern prawn trawl fishery
Study Type
Field study in the wild
Location
Northern Australia
Target catch
Prawns
Effect on bycatch species
Significantly fewer sharks caught using TED+BRD, TED, BRD only; significant reduction in rays in TED+BRD and TED only compared with control; significant reduction in sawfish catch in nets with a TED. Less reduction in bycatch for small sharks and rays.
Effect on target catch
6% reduction, but 41% reduction in soft and damaged prawns
Bycatch species
Reduction technique
Fishing Gear
The impact of turtle excluder devices and bycatch reduction devices on diverse tropical marine communities in Australia's northern prawn trawl fishery
Study Type
Field study in the wild
Location
Northern Australia
Target catch
Prawns
Effect on bycatch species
Nets with TED+BRDs and only TEDs reduced large-sized sponge catch by ~85%. No change using BRDs only.
Effect on target catch
6% reduction, but 41% reduction in soft and damaged prawns
Reduction technique
Fishing Gear
The impact of turtle excluder devices and bycatch reduction devices on diverse tropical marine communities in Australia's northern prawn trawl fishery
Study Type
Field study in the wild
Location
Northern Australia
Target catch
Prawns
Effect on bycatch species
The combination of TEDs and BRDs reduced the weight of small bycatch by 8% This appears to be almost entirely due to TEDs, which produced a similar result on their own
Effect on target catch
6% reduction, but 41% reduction in soft and damaged prawns
Reduction technique
Fishing Gear