Reduction of discards by technical modifications of beam trawls

Experiments were carried out in 2007 and 2008 on discard reducing techniques in flatfish beam trawling onboard FRV “Tridens” in close cooperation with the fishing industry. A total of 38 gear tests were conducted in which modified beam trawls were compared in pair with a conventional 12 m beam trawl. The modifications consisted of a T90 aft part and various Square Mesh Panels (SMPs) in the bottom sheet, top sheet and combinations of both, and variations of a Benthos Release Hole with a guiding V-panel in the bottom sheet. It was found that a panel in the bottom sheet with 160 mm mesh size appeared to perform best without releasing too many marketable fish. The panel should extend relatively far aft just in front of the codend here the netting is offground. Panels placed only in the top sheet are not very suitable in reducing benthos ycatches. In addition the Benthos Release Hole with guiding device seems to be effective in reducing such bycatches. The cooperation between fishermen and scientists worked very well and created better mutual understanding. Further work is advocated to optimise the design of these devices. It is expected that such devices will get wider application in the Dutch beam trawling sector

Practical implementation of real-time fish classification from acoustic broadband echo sounder data- RealFishEcho progress report : Year 1-June 2017

The EU has by means of new policy restricted the discarding of fish at sea, including bycatch and slipping. As a result, the fishing industry now requires improved methods to identify fish species and size before the catch process begins. With the introduction of robust broadband echosounder (i.e. downward looking sonar) on the market, active acoustic data now have the potential for improved target discrimination for both type and size (i.e. determine fish species and size). The aim of this project is to develop methods for fish classification and size estimation using data from broadband echosounder and further implement them into a software for near-real time viewing. Such a software would help skippers to take better informed decisions while fishing. This project is running over three years (June 2016 to June 2019) in collaboration between Wageningen Marine Research (WMR), Redersvereniging voor de Zeevisserij (RVZ) and TNO. This document reports on the improvement of the methods used for fish species classificatio

Oregon Wine Board Meeting Minutes March 7, 2017

These meeting minutes list individuals in attendance and missing at the March 7, 2017 Oregon Wine Board (OWB) meeting, held at Blue Mountain Community College in Milton-Freewater, Oregon. The research and finance committees provided reports, and the Board discussed grant funding recommendations for viticulture and enology projects in the upcoming year. The meeting lasted 2 hours 27 minutes

Pelagic pilot project discard ban, 2013 - 2104

The new EU obligation to land all catches of regulated species will apply to the pelagic fisheries from 1 January 2015 onwards. Although the pelagic fisheries are generally described as single species fisheries with relatively low discard rates, the new regulation still poses a number of specific challenges that need to be addressed prior to the implementation of the regulation. In the first half of 2013, the Pelagic Freezer-trawler Association (PFA) already recognized the need to prepare well for the new regulation even though the regulation had not been formally agreed at that stage. The PFA initiated a pilot project to explore possible mitigation strategies to avoid unwanted bycatch, to handle and use unwanted bycatch and to find feasible strategies to document and control the catches. The results of the pilot project would also inform discussions on the future technical measures regulations that impact on discards. The project started in August 2013 and finished in February 2014. IMARES was commissioned to lead the project with inputs from a consortium consisting of the fishing companies that are members to the PFA, the Dutch ministry of Economic Affairs, the Dutch inspection agency NVWA, Maritiem BV and Archipelago Marine Research. The project was funded by the PFA, who received a compensation in the form of a limited scientific quota

Large variations in iron input to an oligotrophic Baltic Sea estuary: impact on sedimentary phosphorus burial

Estuarine sediments are key sites for removal of phosphorus (P) from rivers and the open sea. Vivianite, an Fe(II)-P mineral, can act as a major sink for P in Fe-rich coastal sediments. In this study, we investigate the burial of P in the Öre Estuary in the northern Baltic Sea. We find much higher rates of P burial at our five study sites (up to  ∼ 0.145&thinsp;mol m−2 yr−1) when compared to more southern coastal areas in the Baltic Sea with similar rates of sedimentation. Detailed study of the sediment P forms at our site with the highest rate of sedimentation reveals a major role for P associated with Fe and the presence of vivianite crystals below the sulfate methane transition zone. By applying a reactive transport model to sediment and porewater profiles for this site, we show that vivianite may account for up to  ∼ 40&thinsp;% of total P burial. With the model, we demonstrate that vivianite formation is promoted in sediments with a low bottom water salinity and high rates of sedimentation and Fe oxide input. While high rates of organic matter input are also required, there is an optimum rate above which vivianite formation declines. Distinct enrichments in sediment Fe and sulfur at depth in the sediment are attributed to short periods of enhanced input of riverine Fe and organic matter. These periods of enhanced input are linked to variations in rainfall on land and follow dry periods. Most of the P associated with the Fe in the sediment is likely imported from the adjacent eutrophic Baltic Proper. Our work demonstrates that variations in land-to-sea transfer of Fe may act as a key control on burial of P in coastal sediments. Ongoing climate change is expected to lead to a decrease in bottom water salinity and contribute to continued high inputs of Fe oxides from land, further promoting P burial as vivianite in the coastal zone of the northern Baltic Sea. This may enhance the role of this oligotrophic area as a sink for P imported from eutrophic parts of the Baltic Sea.</p