Dossier
Pulse fishing
Scientists and fishing businesses are looking for more sustainable methods for catching flatfish and shrimp, and are therefore experimenting with pulse trawling. This method involves replacing the tickler chains by electrodes that emit electric pulses - the pulse trawl. Wageningen University & Research investigates the advantages and disadvantages of pulse fishing for marine ecosystems and the economy.
What is pulse fishing?
The traditional beam-trawl fishery for flatfish uses so-called tickler chains to startle fish like common sole and plaice and make them leap into the net. The chains are dragged over the seabed, disturbing the sediment and causing mortality of organisms in the trawl track. In the fishery using the pulse technique, the tickler chains have been replaced by electric pulses to make the flatfish leap into the net.
Why is pulse fishing research important?
European regulations prohibit the use of electricity in marine fisheries. Fishers who use the pulse gear are currently fishing based on a derogation. As part of the decision-making process on whether or not to allow pulse fisheries, the impacts of the gear on the ecosystem will have to be investigated.
Pulse fishing in the media
- Article: Tensions flare over electric fishing in European waters - 16 January 2018
- "Electric fishing: is it more eco-friendly than beam trawling?" Resource WUR, 11 mei 2017
- "Fishing with electricity" Wageningen World 2017-02
Download the overview
Current pulse fishing research
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Survival of flatfish and rays in electric pulse fishing How many of the undersized fish caught survive the process of being discarded? And can we increase their chance of survival? -
Flatfish in the picture Flatfish in the picture creates under water video recordings of fish behavior in electrified (pulse) beam trawls. The recordings will help fishers to... -
Impacts of pulse fishing for flatfish on the ecosystem What effects does the flatfish fishery using the pulse technique have on marine organisms? What are the effects on the benthic ecosystem? These are... -
Modelling the effects of electrical pulse stimulation on marine fishes and invertebrates We study the effects of electrical pulse stimulation on various marine organisms in the context of electric pulse bottom trawl fisheries. -
Catch composition and innovation in the pulse fishery for brown shrimp What differences are there in the catch composition of the shrimp pulse trawl compared to conventional fishery with the shrimp beam trawl? How can the... -
Benthic Ecosystem Fisheries Impact Study (BENTHIS) BENTHIS is a pan-European research project to study the impact of bottom trawling on the sea bed and all the animals living on or in the seabed. -
ICES pulse cod fishing In the autumn of 2010 research was done in Norway under the guidance of IMARES. Cod was exposed to stimulation pulse in order to document the effects... -
Pulse trawl Pulse fishing is an important innovation in the Dutch seabed fisheries. The key question is how fisherman can show convincingly that they have a...
News about pulse fishing
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'The need for independent and internationally organised fisheries science is greater than ever before' - Fishing conflicts have existed as long as fishing itself. In several seas – such as the North Sea – a good balance has been struck between... -
International advice to Dutch ministry: pulse trawling has fewer ecological and environmental effects compared to beam trawling - The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea advices the Dutch ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality that “there are... -
Fishing with trawl nets while maintaining benthic life - Under the direction of Wageningen Marine Research, a group of European researchers has developed a method to restrict the impact of different types of... -
Pulse fishing research at EZO in the Resource magazine - PhD candidate Pim Boute MSc and principal investigator dr.ir. Martin Lankheet of the chairgroup Experimental Zoology, were interviewed by the Resource... -
Initial results of chances of survival for undersized fish in pulse fishing - Twenty-nine percent of the undersized common sole caught survive the fishing and processing process. For plaice, this is 15 percent. These findings...
Radio & TV about pulse fishing
Publications about pulse fisheries
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Recommendations for additional research into pulse-trawl fisheries : Based on an inventory of stakeholder concerns
IJmuiden : Wageningen Marine Research (Wageningen Marine Research report C106/18) - p.
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Cod-end selectivity for sole (Solea solea) and plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) in North Sea pulse-trawl fisheries : Best Practices II - WP4 selectivity
Den Helder : Wageningen Marine Research (Wageningen Marine Research report C049/18) - p.
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Discards survival probabilities of flatfish and rays in North Sea pulse-trawl fisheries
IJmuiden : Wageningen Marine Research (Wageningen Marine Research rapport C037/18) - p.
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Increasing the survival of discards in North Sea pulse-trawl fisheries
IJmuiden : Wageningen Marine Research (Wageningen Marine Research rapport C038/18) - p.
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Final report of the Working Group on electrical Trawling
: ICES - p.
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Effects of electrical stimulation on marine organisms in bottom pulse trawl fisheries in the North Sea
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Can pulse trawling reduce the mechanical impact on the benthic ecosystem in the bottom trawl fishery for sole?
In: Abstract book - 10th International Symposium Flatfish. - - p. 81 - 81.
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Pulse fishing is more efficient for some species, but not for others, compared to traditional beam tralwing
In: Abstract book - 10th International Symposium Flatfish. - - p. 96 - 96.
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Monitoring cod catches of the Dutch demersal fleet in 2016
IJmuiden : Wageningen Marine Research (Wageningen Marine Research Report C056/17) - p.
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Survival of undersized plaice (Pleuronectes platessa), sole (Solea solea), and dab (Limanda limanda) in North Sea pulse-trawl fisheries
ICES Journal of Marine Science 74 (2017)6. - ISSN 1054-3139 - p. 1672 - 1680.
