MFR PAPER 1235 The resul t of the program and the interest in quid by the Southern New E ngland fi shing industry is illustrated Som e Recent Examples of in Table 1 which compares the spring Gear Technology Development or landi ngs of 1975 with those of 1976. Transfer in New England HERRING Pelagic pair-trawli ng fo r herring wa adopted by the New England ROBERT E. TABER industry through the effort of the University of Rh ode Island (URI ) Sea Fishing gear development or techno­ Robert E Taber is with the Uni­ Grant Program about 5 years ago. logy transfer supported by a variety versity of Rhode Island Marine Since that time the method has been offunding sources is currently being Advisory Service, Kingston, RI adopted by vessels from Cape May, conducted in New England by universi­ 02881 . .J., to Boothbay Harbor , Maine, with ties. state agencies. or non ­ because of the manner in which the interest also developing on the possi­ profit fis heries corporations. The fund ­ quid reacted to light from May to bility of bottom pair-. Funding ing sources for these efforts have. for ovember of 1974. It was demonstrat­ from the Southern New England the most part. been through the New ed that the squid could be conce ntrated Development Program has enabled the England Fisheries Development Pro­ in approximately a 200 -foot diameter URI Marine Advisory Service to gram. local Sea Grant programs. or the area around a vessel to a depth of 5 succes fu ll y introduce this technique to Southern New England Fisheries De­ fathoms. However. at no time would fu rt her extend the capabil ity of vessels velopment Program. The assumption. the concentrated squid come to the fis hing for herring, mackerel, and a well as the intent. is that benefits surface 0 that brailing or pumping other pelagic or semipelagic fi nfish. derived as a re ult of the efforts in New techniques could be employed. The primary purpose for in troducing England would be directly applicable to The purse seining efforts made in the trawl was to enable pelagic many segments of the 1975 and 1976 proved unsuccessful for pair-trawling vessels to continue fish­ throughout the United States. unexpected rea ons. During 1975, no ing on herring when the herring we nt Following is a discussion of only a squid cou ld be found in the areas where to the bottom as t heir mid-water few of the technology transfer or they were prevalent in 1974. In 1976, trawls are not capable of fis hing on the development effort aimed at provid­ even though the efforts were made in bottom effectively. Hence, in these ing a diversified harvesting capability areas where substantial quantities of instances, the bottom pair-trawl can for coastal fisheries vessels. squid were confirmed, the squid were change many unproductive nights into not attracted to the identical light productive ones. Si nce its introduction SQUID ource as in 1974. during the spring of 1976, three pairs The squid resources of the northwest However, the full objective of the of vessels have adopted t his additional Atlantic are one of the few underuti­ New England Fisheries Development capability. Interest has also been lized tock that are available to Program includes the development of expre sed in trying t his method off­ fi hermen in the Northeast an d at the markets as well as processing and har­ shore fo r species such as squid, same time are in strong demand by vesting developments. The marketing mackerel, or butterfish. markets on a worldwide basis. Hence. efforts are providing a strong incentive The trawl is i1 lu trated in Figure 2 squid has been a logical choice for to produce squid because of the and is referred to as a two-bridle empha is under the New England re ul tant improved price structure. Bleakspruttetrawl. It is a modified Fi herie Development Program asso­ Interest in squid as a viable resource version of three- bridle Bleaksprutte­ ciated with the harvesting. processing. for a directed fis hery has multiplied trawl which is a symmetrical two-piece and marketing of this specie . many times over the previous 2 years. trawl with wedge pieces in the sides During the pring and ummer of Innovative efforts by fi hermen from and ut ilizes 32-inch stretched mesh 1974. effort were made to determine New Jersey to Massachusetts have size in the face . The trawl is rigged the potential of using light attraction taken place with such gear as bottom with a 2-inch rubber disc sweep and methods at night for harve ting of trawls using 64 -inch mesh, pelagic towed in a similar manner as a mid­ quid imilar to the technique used in pair-trawls, and bottom pair-trawls. water pair-trawl with no floats on the the California quid . The obser­ vation made were encouraging as evidenced by the recordings of squid in Figure I.- Recording of squ id from the Figure 1. A a re ult. during the Man - Gale - Barbara, ummer of 1975 and spring of 1976. 13 August 1974, 6 effot were made to pur e eine squid miles south of yell ow hills on Martha's Vin ­ at night u ing light attraction methods. yard in 14 fathoms The pur e eining technique was with four l ,OOO-watt believed to be potentially effective li ght on.

Marine Fis heries Review Table 1. -Maine and Rhode Island squid landings, average price, and value, April-June 1975 and 1976.

Landings Average price Value Year (Ib) (cents/lb) ($)

1975 639 .550 14.6 93 ,845 ' 1976 4,000 .000 0.23 920 ,000

' Based on preliminary estimates. 2-INCH RUBBER DISC GROUNDROPE 100-POUND CHAIN WING END WEIGHT headline except for a couple of poly­ form buoys which assist in the hauling MAIN WEIGHT and shooting but provide little, if any, flotation while fishing. With the trawl rigged in this manner, a headline Figure 2.-Two-bridle Bleakspruttetrawl. height of between 5 and 7 fathoms to New Jersey to view their own towed order with the fishing demonstration could be achieved with two vessels of gear and begin to answer some of the scheduled for the months of March 350 horsepower each. The trawl intro­ questions that continually persist. through June of 1977. The vessels duced was 300 meshes around, of 32 There are three primary uses for the fishing from Chatham have been ex­ inch in the bellies, and with a top and information obtained from this project: clusively longliners for many years. bottom hanging line length of 180 feet. 1) it allows individual fishing skippers During the last few years the fleet has The method described above has to evaluate their own towed gear as numbered as many as 70 vessels with been successfully used by the coastal they have it rigged, and lets them only about 25 percent of the vessels vessels in Britain for fishing in ex­ make "demonstrated" adjustments to operating on a profitable basis. Hence, tremely rough bottom areas for improve the gear's efficiency and there is a true and serious need for the and haddock. Although the trawls used productivity, 2) it gives trawl builders fleet to diversify with interest in the are not quite the same, the technique and designers the oppportunity to success or failure of the project being of bottom pair-trawling has allowed study and evaluate the dynamics of readily evident. both fleets to extend their capability trawl design and rigging on a full scale There are numerous other fishing and effectiveness in becoming more working basis, and 3) it provides in ­ technology projects known generally competitive. It is this increase in valuable teaching tools in upgrading throughout New England, which are competitiveness which in some mea­ the level of knowledge of our existing currently underway in the region . sure will assist the New England skippers as well as students in formal These include a safer and more fishing industry to harvest a greater fisheries training programs. efficient hook-up block being developed percentage of the stocks from Ameri­ The University of Rhode Island has by the MIT Sea Grant Program, ca's coastal waters. constructed a specially designed 26-foot lobster bait bagging and mussel har­ HARVESTING TECHNOLOGY aluminum boat with a 40 -foot mast. An vesting projects of the New England Some of the current efforts on underwater TV camera is mounted on Fisheries Development Program, and trawl and trawl door developments at harvesting technology involve joint the mast which is then suspended funding from two programs in conjunc­ below the boat during operation. The URI. The direction of these develop­ tion with the industry. An example of boat can control its position relative to ments and their implementation are augmented by the cooperation and such a project currently underway is the vessel whose trawl is being video­ the underwater video taping of trawl taped. informal coordination which exists gear being supported by URI and the The electronics and the operational between all of the agencies, programs, and groups involved in fisheries devel­ Southern New England Fisheries De­ costs of this project are being funded opment. The results of velopment Program. by the Southern New England Fisher­ these projects Fishermen have had the desire and ies Development Program while the and the cooperation of the various interests have begun to payoff in real need to look at their towed gear ever boat was provided by URI. The fishing since towed gear was first used. Divers industry is supplying the vessels and dollars for the fishing industry in recent years. This trend should con­ and/or transducers have been used trawls to be videotaped. tinue in the future and become a key with some success but, unfortunately, A fourth project of interest involves the conversion of a 36-foot Chatham, factor in the management and exploi­ it is usually true that fishermen don't tation of our fisheries resources as the dive and divers don't fish. Mass., longliner that traditionally United States moves forward under Hence most, if not all, of the fishes for haddock and cod to Danish or the guidance of the regional manage­ information obtained in the past is Scottish seining for sanddabs. The ment councils. either of a "hearsay" nature or an equipment and gear is currently on electronic interpretation of a trawl MFR Paper 1235. From Marine Fisheries Review, Vol. 39, No.2, under test which is of course better February 1977. Copies of this paper, in limited numbers, are available than no information but still remains from 0825, Technical Information Division, Environmental Science Information Center, NOAA , Washington, DC 20235. Copies of Marine incomplete. It is the purpose of this Fisheries Review are available from the Superintendent of Documents, project to enable fishermen from Maine U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 for $1 . 10 each.

February 1977 25