The twin rig trawler Aquarius II was chartered for ten days in September and
October 2013 to undertake fishing trials in the Nephrops ( Nephrops
norvegicus ) fishery off the North east coast of England. The aim of the
work was to significantly reduce cod catches in this fishery through
collective action with local fishing skippers. The practical approach taken
was to insert a design concept under development known as the Net Grid into a
trawl and to evidence changes in selectivity towards cod and other commercial
species under normal fishing conditions. The objective of the work was to
further develop this design with the aim of developing a trawl that reduces
catches of cod in the English NE Nephrops trawl fishery without losing the
target species of Nephrops .