Gillnetting uses curtains of netting that are suspended by a system of floats and weights; they can be anchored to the sea floor or allowed to float at the surface. A gillnet catches fish by their gills because the twine of the netting is very thin, and either the fish does not see the net or the net is set so that it traps the fish.
Two experimental gillnets were tested that are designed to reduce or eliminate the bycatch of cod while targeting flatfish species. Both experimental designs reduce the vertical profile of the nets in the water. One experimental design modifies a foam-core floatline by adding lead every few feet; the other net replaces the gillnet's floatline with another leadline so that the net lies nearly completely on the bottom. Both are 8 meshes deep (MD) and have different floatation and hanging ratios. The nets were quantitatively compared to standard gillnets (25 MD) to determine their effectiveness in reducing cod bycatch.
Tiedown gillnets with 10", 12" and 14" mesh size. See final report for further details, http://www.northeastconsortium.org/ProjectFileDownload.pm?report_id=1223&table=project_report
Tiedown gillnets with 10", 12" and 14" mesh size. See final report for further details, http://www.northeastconsortium.org/ProjectFileDownload.pm?report_id=1223&table=project_report
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