Gear technology
Trawl bycatch and bycatch reduction devices (BRDs)
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Prawn trawling is a major fishery in Queensland supplying consumers with prawns, scallops, Moreton Bay bugs, sand crabs, squid and other seafood items. Unfortunately, not all animals caught in trawl nets can be retained or are marketable. 'Bycatch' is the term used to describe that part of the total catch that is not kept for marketing but is returned to the sea. Common bycatch includes certain fish, crustaceans, molluscs, sponges, stingrays, sharks and sea turtles. The amount of bycatch varies between fishing grounds and can range from almost nil to 15 times the weight of the prawn catch.
Trawling practices have come under greater scrutiny to ensure that impacts on the ecosystem are minimised. Reducing bycatch is one step toward this goal. Bycatch is reduced by modifying nets to allow unwanted animals to escape.
Bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) is the general term for all devices that exclude unwanted animals, both large and small. Some are designed to exclude just fish whilst others exclude a range of animals.
Turtle excluder devices or TEDs are a specific type of BRD designed to exclude large animals (such as sea turtles, stingrays and sharks) and sponges.
BRDs can have other benefits such as improving the quality of the catch, reducing at-sea workloads and sometimes increasing the prawn catch.
Both TEDs and BRDS are mandatory in all otter trawl nets of vessels fishing in the Queensland East Coast Trawl Fishery. BRDs are required to be used in all beam trawl nets of vessels fishing in the Queensland East Coast Trawl Fishery.
The use of TEDs is assisting the Queensland East Coast Trawl Fishery to reduce its catch of endangered and protected sea turtle species by 95% as specified in the Fisheries (East Coast Trawl) Management Plan 1999 .
Last reviewed 17 August 2006
