Summary
During 1990-1992, the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries (NCDMF) examined methods to reduce finfish bycatch in the local shrimp fisheries. This included examining several devices such as Florida fish excluders (FFE's), accelerator funnels, mesh sizes in otter trawls and ocean flynets, and contributions to exclusion gained from the use of turtle-excluder-devices (TED's). Results indicated that FFE's reduced finfish catch by as much as 70% with shrimp catch rates ranging from -18% to +9%. Increased mesh sizes were affected in the flynet fishery.
This is a final report by the Gulf & South Atlantic Fisheries Development Foundation discussing the purpose, design, and results of the project.
