CONTENTS 



Historical perspective 1 



Selectivity review 2 



New England mesh study ; 5 



Experiment one 5 



Experiment two 6 



Experiment three 6 



Experiment four 7 



Results 7 



Atlantic cod 7 



Haddock 8 



Yellowtail flounder 12 



Pollock 13 



Winter flounder 15 



American plaice 16 



Management implications 17 



Discards 17 



Application of mesh management 19 



Summation 20 



Acknowledgment 21 



Literature cited 21 



Appendix A 23 



Appendix B 25 



Appendix C 36 



Appendix D 38 



Appendix E 40 



Figures 



1 . Mesh gauges 3 



2. Location chart of mesh experiments 5 



3. Selection curves — cod 9 



4. Cod girth to length relationships 9 



5. Vessel comparisons — haddock 10 



6. Selection curves — haddock 10 



7. Catch distributions — haddock 12 



8. Selection curves — yellowtail flounder 12 



9. Vessel comparisons — pollock 13 



10. Selection curves — pollock 14 



1 1 . Catch distributions — pollock 14 



12. Selection curves — winter flounder 15 



13. Vessel comparisons — American plaice 16 



14. Selection curves — American plaice 16 



15. Catch distribution — American plaice 17 



Tables 



1 . Selection factors 4 



2. Atlantic cod selection factor summary 7 



3. Atlantic cod length frequency distributions and percent retained for the small-mesh covered tows — all vessels . 7 



4. Atlantic cod length frequency distributions and percent retained for the large-mesh covered tows — all vessels . . 8 



5. Atlantic cod length frequency distributions and percent retained from uncovered cod end tows — all vessels ... 8 



6. Atlantic cod landings 9 



7. Length frequency distribution of haddock 10 



8. Haddock length frequency distributions and percent retained for 107 mm cod end covered tows — both vessels . 10 



9. Haddock length frequency distributions and percent retained for 138 mm cod end covered tows — both vessels . 1 1 



10. Haddock length frequency distributions and percent retained for the 138 mm uncovered cod end compared 

 with the 107 mm uncovered cod end — both vessels 11 



1 1 . Weights of haddock by 3 cm groups 11 



12. Yellowtail flounder selection factor summary 12 



13. Yellowtail flounder length frequency distributions and percent retained for the small-mesh covered tows — 



six vessels 12 



in 



