Dataset: Scup and windowpane flounder length frequency counts
Deployment: Sea_Breeze_Too-trip4

Experimental net with the large mesh belly panel and small mesh typical of that used in scup fishery along the East Coast of the US. The nets used for this project were 286 x 16cm, 4-seam, 3-bridle standard otter trawls. The 286 x 16cm refers to the circumference of the fishing circle (286 meshes around of 16 cm mesh to form the circle) and nets of this size are appropriate for vessels with horsepower in the range of 400hp to 550hp. The net was constructed with 16cm (full mesh) webbing in the wings and jibs. The bunt and the 1st bottom belly were constructed from 12 cm mesh. The top square, top bellies, and the side panels were constructed from 8cm Dyneema webbing. The last belly section, top, and bottom were 6cm PE webbing. The codend was constructed of 5" regulation mesh used in the scup fishery. Flotation for this trawl was provided by 48 -8" floats mounted on the headrope. The sweep of the trawl was constructed of 2-3/8" and 3" rubber discs on wire rope. The sweep was comprised of three pieces totaling 2400cm or 78.72 feet in length. The headrope height was approximately 16 feet high. This net was then modified by Jon Knight of Superior Trawl to include the LMBP. The large mesh panel for this project was made from 5mm poly webbing and the mesh size was 80cm or approximately 32 inches knot-center to knot-center diamond mesh. The actual panel was 2 meshes deep and was sewn into the standard 12cm (5”) mesh of the 1st bottom belly using a "saw-toothing" technique. Similar to the SNECRI project, this results in an effective area for fish escapement of 3 full 32 inch meshes, or an opening in the belly of the net that is approximately 8 feet deep from front to back. The LMBP attached approximately 1 foot (2.5 meshes/12cm) behind the footrope and extended widthwise across the entire belly of the net (from gore to gore) for 30 meshes of 32 inch diamond mesh.