Pulse fishing a sustainable alternative

Several studies on new fishing methods and adjustments are being conducted by the government, in cooperation with fishermen. Fishermen cooperate in looking for other methods to help create a sustainable fishing industry.

A sustainable alternative to beam trawling is pulse fishing. The fishing gear used in beam trawling consists of chains dragging along the seabed and these are replaced by plastic tubes with elements that give off electric shocks in pulse fishing. These electric shocks startle the fish and they are chased into the net.

Studies on and with pulse trawling are ongoing to optimise this fishery. It has been shown that less fuel needs to be used and there is less seabed disturbance and bycatch. The task now is to optimise the fishing and use of the pulse trawl.

HydroRig

The HydroRig is an alternative beam trawl gear without tickler chains, where a profile at the bottom of the wing-shaped beam has to provide water swirl to get flatfish off the bottom and into the nets.
This avoids physical contact of chains with fish and improves fish quality. This modification is also fuel-saving and, since wake chains are no longer needed, there is hardly any bottom disturbance and can therefore be said to be a sustainable fishing technique.

Foto: © Ecomare, Oscar Bos