Here we study the effects of fishing trawl gear on the seabed and benthic organisms. A BACI-design experiment was used to examine the effects of a traditional beam trawl gear and the pulse trawl gear. The pulse trawl gear is gaining popularity amongst Dutch fishers in recent years due to reduced fuel costs and good sole catches.The research was carried out in the northern part of the Dutch Voordelta (southern North Sea coastal zone area, 15 – 22m deep, sandy habitat) in June 2013. In this experimental area, fishing disturbance was considered to be low so interference with the experiment was minimalized. Within the experimental area 3 sub-areas (150m x 1000m) were established for the BACI experiment: 1) a pulse trawl area; 2) a beam trawl area; 3) a reference area. The pulse and beam trawl areas of the BACI experiment were trawled by a commercial vessel (pulse) and a research vessel (beam) for one day. Before trawling, the areas were sampled with a multibeam, a sediment profile imaging (SPI) camera and a benthic sledge. The same sampling was carried out after the trawling, as well as boxcore sampling.
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