Commercial feasibility trial for a single-warp deep-water “Maireta” (OTMS) trawl gear

Abstract

The object of this study was to compare the effectiveness of a single-warp bottom trawl gear and a gear using two warps. The initial design for the gear was an experimental single-warp deep-water Otter trawl Maireta system gear (OTMS) highly suitable for working at considerable depth. From that basic design, two identical but larger gears were constructed for trawling by commercial vessels. The gears were deployed by two vessels with similar power ratings that trawled together in parallel at the same depth. A total of 23 trawls was carried out on fishing grounds on the shelf and slope at depths between 100 and 400 m off Barcelona. The total catch and size composition of the main commercial species in the samples taken by each gear were compared. There were no significant differences (p < 0.01) in catchability (kg/km2), in the size composition of the catches over the course of 1 week. It was concluded that in the conditions of the experiment, the yields obtained using the single-warp trawl gear were similar to those obtained using the two-warp trawl. The single-warp system required less warp line and shorter bridles and hence represented savings in operating costs. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved