Most of the developments that have occurred in reducing bycatch from penaeid trawling have concerned modifications to the codend - using various configurations of grids, panels and meshes. Very little work has focused on developing selective modifications anterior to the codend and especially in front of the mouth of the trawl. By stopping fish from entering the net at all, we will be negating any escape mortalities that may be incurred by fish being herded throughout the length of the net and released through grids and panels at the codend. The result will be greatly enhanced survival of fish that occur in trawl grounds.

This project represents a major opportunity for Australia to develop a collaboration with the Danish group while examining the potential of what is currently regarded as the next most innovative and novel approach to reduce bycatch in trawls .

1. Establish a collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark’s fishing gear technology centre via a shared piece of research done in an Australian fishery
2. Conduct 2 experiments to develop novel modifications anterior to the trawl mouth that will reduce the bycatch of unwanted finfish
3. Disseminate the results to the prawn trawl fisheries of Australia and produce appropriate scientific papers and the final report.