The Xiamen Symposium on Marine Environmental Sciences (XMAS 2025)

Fishery dependent testing of TED-equipped trawls was conducted as a means of demonstrating the TED effect on catch rates of fish onboard a Gabonese trawler that is owned by a Chinese operator.  The project was a collaborative effort between NOAA Fisheries, Gabon Direction General de la Pêche et Agriculture (DGPA), the Wildlife Conservation Society Gabon (WCS) and Virginia Sea Grant (VASG). The project was made possible through funding from the NOAA Fisheries Office of International Affairs, International Cooperation and Assistance Program. A fishing gear specialist from VASG and 2 technicians from the DGPA collected information on catch rates of fish and bycatch from trawls equipped with a 14.6cm bar spacing TED specially designed for testing aboard a Gabonese fish trawler of built in China.  Trawling operations were conducted in southern Gabonese waters located on the central west coast of Africa in August of 2015. Catch data was collected from TED versus non-TED equipped trawls during two series of 30 consecutive comparative tows (all top-opening).  The duration of the tows and fishing zones were at the captain’s discretion. Fish loss was estimated at 10.4% for the first 30 tows but after two minor adjustments (extension of TED flap by 40cm and shortening the tail end of the trawl by 2.4m) the next 30 tows showed a gain of 0.9% for the TED equipped trawl. Bycatch reduction in the TED equipped trawl was 11.2% for the second 30 tows. A statistical analysis of the catch data between a top-opening TED-equipped trawl and non-TED trawl for the second 30 tows showed no difference in the catch rates of targeted fish while the reduction of bycatch was statistically significant.  Large fish specimens of guitar fish were captured less often in the TED equipped trawl.