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Home > Resources & Publications > Newsletters & Magazines > Chenier Ecology > 2008 > 11-08

Resources & Publications:  Chenier Ecology

November 2008

The Fisheye BRD must be placed along the top center of the cod end of a shrimp trawl, no further forward than 11 feet from the cod end tie-off rings. The Gulf Fisheye BRD is the same fisheye-type device that may be placed 15 meshes on either side of top center, between 8.5 feet and 12.5 feet from the cod end tie-off rings, thus expanding the allowable placement of the device in the cod end.

These two (overlapping) configurations of the fisheye-type device are also certified for use in the South Atlantic region. New data collected aboard Gulf of Mexico shrimp vessels indicated that a fisheye-type device placed more than 9 feet forward in the cod end of the net does not exclude 30 percent of the finfish by weight. Therefore, the final rule will decertify the Gulf Fisheye BRD as it is designated in the regulations, and will restrict the allowable placement of the Fisheye BRD to no farther forward than 9 feet from the tie-off rings.

The study also found the effectiveness of the Expanded Mesh BRD has decreased. Recent tests of the Expanded Mesh BRD in the Gulf of Mexico indicate it is only achieving about a 17 percent reduction in the weight of total finfish bycatch. The final rule also decertifies the Expanded Mesh BRD in the Gulf of Mexico. Illustrations of the various BRD designs and installation instructions for some of the BRDs can be found at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sf/BRDs.htm.

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