Minimising Nordmøre grid bar spaces in an Australian penaeid fishery

The effects of reducing bar spaces in a generic Nordmøre grid used in an Australian penaeid-trawl fishery were investigated within an objective of maximising bycatch reduction while maintaining target catches. Compared to a conventional Nordmøre grid with 20 mm bar spaces, those with 16 and 18 mm bar spaces maintained the retained weights of school prawns, Metapenaeus macleayi, and with no effects on size selectivity, but caught incrementally lower weights of total fish, which for the 16 mm grid was significant (mean reduced by ~26%). The results imply that Nordmøre grid bar spaces can be reduced to a size approaching the width of the largest penaeids with no commercial impacts