Are rigid sorting devices necessary to control size selectivity in demersal trawl fisheries?

Diamond mesh codends are the most common size selectivity devices in trawls for releasing bycatch and undersized individuals. However, codend selectivity can vary due to the flexibility of the netting meshes, making discrimination by size between retained and released fish difficult to control. In some trawl fisheries, rigid sorting devices have been introduced to make size selection more controlled with sharper discrimination by size. However, the resulting size selectivity often does not show a sharp size selection. In the present study, we tested and compared the size selectivity performance of two "diamond-mesh codend designs" in the Barents Sea gadoidtrawl fishery: a four-panel codend, which was more rigid than a traditional two-panel codend design due to the additional selvedges, and a fully rigid codend design, that included a metal frame. The aim was to investigate the effect of added codend rigidness on the size selectivity of cod (Gadus morhua), haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) and redfish (Sebastes spp.). In addition, the obtained results were compared to earlier research on size selectivity in this fishery including codends with different levels of rigidness and sorting grids. The results demonstrated that using a fully rigid codend did not result in a sharper size selectivity compared to a four-panel codend. Further, there was no indication that a rigid sorting grid makes size selectivity sharper than what can be obtained with a four-panel diamond mesh codend alone. There was also no proof that other codend stabilizing mechanisms such as shortened lastridge ropes could make the size selection sharper compared to the four-panel codend.