Electric pulse trawling

Bottom trawling is a commonly used fishing technique for benthic species. However, it has been criticised for poor catch selectivity, ecosystem degradation and high fuel consumption. In the industry, electric pulse trawling is seen as a promising alternative. These trawls send out electrical signals that trigger muscle contractions in fish. Although pulse trawling has several advantages over traditional trawling, such as reduced fuel consumption and by-catch, it has also been criticised for potentially causing spinal damage in fish species and increased mortality of invertebrate fish, which can have far-reaching effects on the food web, affecting other species.

Nº 36

East China Sea

  • Fisheries
  • Conservation of Fish Stock
  • Improving Catch Methods
some attempts made
past case
Region-1
Region-2
Region-3
Region-4
ongoing case
no attempts made

Yes

Electric pulse trawling

Bottom trawling is a commonly used fishing technique for benthic species. However, it has been criticised for poor catch selectivity, ecosystem degradation and high fuel consumption. In the industry, electric pulse trawling is seen as a promising alternative. These trawls send out electrical signals that trigger muscle contractions in fish. Although pulse trawling has several advantages over traditional trawling, such as reduced fuel consumption and by-catch, it has also been criticised for potentially causing spinal damage in fish species and increased mortality of invertebrate fish, which can have far-reaching effects on the food web, affecting other species.

In the 1990s, the use of electric beam trawls with pulse generators became more widespread in coastal fisheries in the East China Sea. While increased catch rates were observed, a lack of regulation led to levels of electric pulse use that caused damage to juvenile shrimp and other benthic species living on the sea floor.

  • Facilitated the efforts to address the initial problem
  • Multilple (effects disconected from each other)

Congda Yu, Zhihai Chen, Lianyuan Chen, Pingguo He. (2007). The rise and fall of electrical beam trawling for shrimp in the East China Sea: technology, fishery, and conservation implications, ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64(8), 1592–1597.

Van Marlen, B., Wiegerinck, J. A. M., van Os-Koomen, E., & Van Barneveld, E. (2014). Catch comparison of flatfish pulse trawls and a tickler chain beam trawl. Fisheries research, 151, 57-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2013.11.007

Boute, P. G., Soetaert, M., Reid Navarro, J. A., & Lankheet, M. J. (2021). Effects of electrical pulse stimulation on behaviour and survival of marine benthic invertebrates. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7, 592650. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.592650

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