On electrical fishing for brown shrimp (Crangon crangon): II. Sea trials
Polet, H.; Delanghe, F.; Verschoore, R. (2005). On electrical fishing for brown shrimp (Crangon crangon): II. Sea trials. Fish. Res. 72(1): 13-27. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2004.10.015
To find ways of reducing the by-catch in the North Sea brown shrimp (Crangon crangon) fishery, experiments were carried out with electric pulses. The basic idea was to selectively invoke a startle response in shrimp without stimulating any by-catch species. A selective groundrope could then be used in combination with electric pulses to obtain catch separation. Sea trials with the electro-net showed that the raised groundrope created an escape route for most fish species regularly caught in shrimp trawls, while the electric field made the shrimps tail-flip high enough to be caught. The electro-net with raised groundrope and small meshes in the top panel gave satisfactory results. The losses of commercial shrimp catches were negligible. Part of the undersized commercial fish catch could escape and non-commercial fish and invertebrates were caught in lower numbers compared to the standard gear. Electric fishing can be a practical alternative to the standard shrimp trawl and could be an acceptable balance between the economic interests of the fishermen and the ecological demands of the marine ecosystem.
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