Publication Abstract

The fishing capacity of abandoned gill nets on wrecks and on open ground in UK coastal waters

A.Revill and G. Dunlin

This study investigated the changes in fishing capacity of gill nets deployed and abandoned over wrecks and on open ground in UK coastal waters. Divers surveyed eleven wrecks and found the remains of twenty seven separate gill nets (from the fishery) distributed amongst seven of the wrecks. No animals (alive or dead) were found entrapped in any of these gill net remains, whose fishing capacities were estimated to be negligible.

Two gill nets were deployed and deliberately abandoned, one over a wreck and another on open ground. They were subsequently monitored for two years by divers. Both nets demonstrated a loss in fishing capacity of more than 50 percent during the first few weeks of immersion. The open ground net was washed ashore after 58 days, whilst the wreck net remained in-situ and continued to fish, albeit with decreasing capacity, over two years.

Reference:

A.S. Revill and G. Dunlin (2003). The fishing capacity of abandoned gill nets on wrecks and on open ground in UK coastal waters. Fisheries Research, (2-3) 64; 107-113