The twin rig trawler Aquarius II was chartered for ten days in September and
October 2013 to undertake fishing trials in the Nephrops (Nephrops
norvegicus) fishery off the North east coast of England. The aim of the work
was to significantly reduce cod catches in this fishery through collective
action with local fishing skippers. The practical approach taken was to insert
a design concept under development known as the Net Grid into a trawl and to
evidence changes in selectivity towards cod and other commercial species under
normal fishing conditions. The objective of the work was to further develop
this design with the aim of developing a trawl that reduces catches of cod in
the English NE Nephrops trawl fishery without losing the target species of
Nephrops.
