A novel escape panel for trawl nets used in the Irish Sea Nephrops fishery

An experimental trawl net fitted with a 120 mm square-mesh escape panel was tested against the standard trawl net of the Irish Sea Nephrops fishery. The experimental net allowed 54% of juvenile haddock and 65% of juvenile whiting to escape, and there was no loss in catches of the targeted Nephrops.
Field Studies:

Location	Fishing gear	Reduction technique	Bycatch species	Effect on bycatch species	Catch	Effect on target catch	Type
Irish Sea	Trawls	Fish escape windows/separator devices	Bony Fishes	Reduced juvenile haddock catch by 54% and juvenile whiting catch by 65%	Nephrops	There was no loss of Nephrops catch	In the wild