Energy consumption of three different trawl configurations used in the Barents Sea demersal trawl fishery

Differences in energy consumption among three different trawl configurations (bottom, semi-pelagic, and pelagic) were measured on board the trawler Northern Star in November 2009. Compared to the traditional bottom trawl configuration, using a bottom trawl with a semi-pelagic configuration can decrease energy consumption by 17.1%. Substituting the bottom trawl with a pelagic trawl resulted in an energy savings of 5.5%, even when its mouth area was approximately 40 times larger than that of the bottom trawl. Depending on the fishing conditions, a larger trawl mouth area offers a much larger fishing capacity with lower energy consumption per kg of caught fish. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.