Knotless Codend Mesh Selectivity: fish catch data, Gulf of Maine, from F/V Jeanne C. NEC-KP2002-1 from April to July 2003 (NEC_ProjDev project)

<p>&quot;Feasibility Study for Knotless Cod Ends&quot;</p>
<p>report: <a href=\"http://nec.whoi.edu/pdf/Knotless_final_report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"> Sea Trials to Assess Knotless Codend Mesh Selectivity by Dana L. Morse, Capt. Kelo Pinkham.</a></p>
<p>&quot;The selectivity of knotless twine used in the codend of a groundfish trawl was tested relative to a standard codend constructed of knotted twine, in two companion projects. In 2003, 25 tow pair (50 tows) tests were conducted. Analysis of catch per unit effort and length frequency by species detected only a small difference between catches from the knotless and knotted codends. Video footage suggests a general tendency for the knotless twine to remain more fully open during trawling. Escapees from knotless codends may suffer less scale loss and other damage during the escape process. The knotless twine is lighter, easier to handle, and more supple. Future work should focus on the health of escapees, and on continued field trials, including square mesh arrangements. Larger sample sizes and covered codend experiments would help to more fully describe the selectivity of knotless twine in the Northeast groundfish fishery. Evaluations were somewhat hampered by low catches in both control and experimental tows. A research brief is available on the project, which describes some of the positives and negatives of using knotless twine.&quot; <i><small>extracted from: Summary of Completed Cooperative Research Projects Funded by the Northeast Consortium, January 2006</small></i></p>