The vertical separation of fish in the aft end of a demersal trawl

Two multi-compartment separator frames were used to study the vertical separation of some commercially important fish species in the aft end of a trawl, with the aim of separating cod (Gadus morhua) from other species. A non-linear multinomial model with random effects was used to analyse the data a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ICES Journal of Marine Science
Main Authors: Krag, Ludvig Ahm, Holst, René, Madsen, Niels
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2009
Subjects:
cod
Online Access:https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/42119e03-e14f-4022-bc87-65529163ead9
https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsp034
Description
Summary:Two multi-compartment separator frames were used to study the vertical separation of some commercially important fish species in the aft end of a trawl, with the aim of separating cod (Gadus morhua) from other species. A non-linear multinomial model with random effects was used to analyse the data and to compare the performance of the two frames. The vertical distribution of cod in the aft end of the trawl was close to uniform, whereas haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), whiting (Merlangius merlangus), plaice (Pleuronectes platessa), and lemon sole (Microstomus kitt) showed more uneven distributions. The use of guiding bars in the separator frame significantly (p <0.05) increased the catch of cod, plaice, and lemon sole in the upper compartment. The vertical separation of cod was density-dependent; high densities of fish resulted in a more uniform distribution of cod. The species separations found differ from those reported from the studies of species separation in the region of the trawl mouth.