Fishery Gear Types

Question 1

What are the categories of gear types?

Answer 1

1. Technology
2. Passive gear - target species move to the gear
3. Active gear - gear that is moved to the target species (propelling or towing)

Question 2

What are the technology gear types?

Answer 2

Sonar
Drones

Question 3

What are the passive gear types?

Answer 3

1. Gill nets
2. Longlines
3. Fyke and pound nets
4. traps
5. pots

Question 4

What are the active gear types?

Answer 4

1. Trawls
2. Dredges
3. Harpoons

Question 5

Gill Nets

Answer 5

• Have been in use for thousands of years
• Improvements have happened over the years (hydraulic net reels)

Question 6

What are the primary gill net types?

Answer 6

Fixed gill net, which can be set (anchored), staked, or drift

Question 7

How can gear be targeted to catch a specific age or size fish?

Answer 7

• Mesh size of the net
• Hook size
• Types of bait

Question 8

What was a type away from the VIMS Alosine Monitoring Program?

Answer 8

The ratio does not represent the sex ratio in the natural environment. The ratio is a product of the net mesh size.

Question 9

Pelagic Longline

Answer 9

Longlines are just baited hooks
Held to the surface by buoys

Question 10

Bottom Longline

Answer 10

Baited hooks held to the bottom with anchors

Question 11

What are the various types of Trawls?

Answer 11

• Midwater trawl
  -Demersal (Bottom) trawl
  -Otter Trawls (Shrimp trawlers use paired otter trawls)
  -Prawn Trawl (double rig)
• Beam Trawl
  -Dredge

Question 12

What types of species do dredge nets target?

Answer 12

Primary grab shellfish on the bottom

Question 13

Potential impacts

Answer 13

Damage to the seafloor and any habitat living there

Question 14

What are some suggested best practices?

Answer 14

Gear design/operations
Prohibitions by gear type
Freeze trawling footprint
Nearshore restrictions and zoning
Prohibitions by habitat type
Multipurpose habitat management
Invertebrate bycatch quota
Habitat-impact quota
Removal of effort