Cooperative Research Paired Trawl Sweep Comparison Study

In the spring of 2009, Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) replaced the previous standard bottom trawl gear (Yankee 36) with a new standard survey trawl designed in close collaboration with the fishing industry and local net manufacturers. Some stakeholders expressed concern that the rockhopper sweep introduced with this gear was not suitable for the efficient capture of flatfish and could therefore bias survey estimates. To address this question, a paired trawl experiment was conducted during the fall of 2009 and the spring and fall of 2010 aboard three chartered fishing vessels, the Mary K, the Moragh K, and the Endurance. The new standard survey trawl with rockhopper sweep was compared with an identical net with a 3” cookie sweep using paired tows between 2 vessels. Results in general showed significantly more flatfish caught with the cookie sweep, although differences in size distributions between the two sweeps were negligible in most cases.