The Development of a Semi-Pelagic Trawl for Squid and Butterfish

This report describes a project whose purpose is to develop a semi-pelagic trawl for squid and butterfish. Background of this fishery in New England is presented, as well as the constraints of the existing fleet. The approach used to meet the project objectives was the development of a rigging technique applied to a 156 x 80cm 4-seam bottom trawl. This novel technique included 5.5 meter droplines, a third set of bridles, and a flexible headrope kite. The rigging arrangement, however, could be applied to most bottom trawls. The net design and the model test results are reported, together with the results from instrumented sea trials and commercial use.