Fladen experimental fishing impact recovery data - 4m Beam Trawl

Total count and biomass in grams of taxa identified from 4m beam trawl samples of the seabed, with associated station information. Samples were collected from three experimental treatment boxes only using two 4m beam trawls in parallel to simulate commercial beam trawling operations during the first of two research surveys on the RV Cefas Endeavour in April 2015. The sampling gear consisted of a commercially rigged (1989 style) 4m beam trawl (measured between inside edges of shoes) fitted with a chain mat, flip-up ropes, and a 40mm cod-end liner. One hundred percent of all three Treatment boxes was trawled in North South tow lines, against the tide between Time 0 and Time 1 only. Tow distance was measured from the time that the beam trawl had settled on the seabed to the time that hauling of the trawl began. The amount of wire paid out was three times the water depth. Tow speed was maintained at 4 knots (speed over ground). A GIS navigation system was used throughout fishing operations to log the position of the tow every 5 seconds. On surfacing, the net was cleaned by being gently towed behind the vessel prior to landing the catch on-board. The total catch was sorted into taxon/species using up to date literature and the individual weight of all taxa were recorded for all specimens.