Sampling trawls used for demersal resources assessment in Mediterranean

In the Mediterranean several scientific bottom trawl surveys have been conducted for many years in an attempt to assess the demersal fishery resources. In Italy, in particular, two projects have been carried out every year: a national survey (GRUND) and an international survey (MEDITS). Different fishing gears are used as sampling trawls: the GRUND’s teams use the local Italian commercial trawls; the MEDITS teams use only one particular kind of standardized trawl. Fiorentini et al. (1999a) assessed the efficiency of the MEDITS sampling trawl relative to that of a typical Italian commercial trawl. The study results showed that the MEDITS trawl was the less efficient for benthic species, and the more efficient for the pelagic species. A new research project, financed by MIPAF, is being carried out by the fishing technology team of ISMAR-CNR-Ancona (formerly, IRPEM) to develop a standardized sampler trawl for Mediterranean benthic and demersal resources. The preliminary results have shown a good performance of the sampler prototype. The next trials will be carried out in order to test the sampler trawl on different fishing grounds and at the greatest depths.