Development of fishing Gears with Reduced Effects on the Environment (DEGREE)

Thirteen participants worked together to develop new gears/fishing techniques that have a lower impact on benthic habitats, to quantify the potential reduction of the physical impact as well as the negative effects on benthic communities, to weigh the socio-economic consequences of these changes against those of alternative management measures, e.g. closing of areas. They focused on the development of modified towed gears. A generic approach was chosen in which cases (e.g. North Sea, Mediterranean) can be worked out. The overall ecological impact to benthic systems has been assessed by developing physical/biological models verified by tests at sea. This provides a tool to fisheries managers to identify gear and sediment type combinations which will minimise impact to the habitat. A group of experts worked to appraise the socio-economic consequences of the new gears and techniques. Gear types under study involved: otter trawls, beam trawls, pulse beam trawls and dredges.