Fisheries – what’s in the nets?

There is often a need during seine net fishing for herring, mackerel, capelin and brisling to sample the catch at an early stage of net deployment.

Together with SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture, the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research has developed a method involving packing a mini-trawl net in a pipe and then shooting it out using an air canon. The mini-trawl is deployed using kites attached to its side and upper panels. Using the correct speed and kite size, the mini-trawl achieves dimensions of 1.5 by 1.5 metres. Since size and quality have a major impact on the price of pelagic species caught with seine nets, ascertaining what is contained in the nets is of considerable importance.