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Understanding the effect of design parameters on the filtration efficiency of trawls intended for commercial harvesting of zooplankton
A major challenge for the aquaculture sector is access to sustainable and cost-effective raw materials for feed. Copepods (Calanus spp.) have potential to meet this need for large volumes of marine raw materials to enable sustainable growth of aquaculture production worldwide. However, the lack of a...
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Published in: | Ocean engineering 2023-11, Vol.288, p.116141, Article 116141 |
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Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | A major challenge for the aquaculture sector is access to sustainable and cost-effective raw materials for feed.
Copepods (Calanus spp.) have potential to meet this need for large volumes of marine raw materials to enable
sustainable growth of aquaculture production worldwide. However, the lack of an energy- and catch-efficient
trawl technology has limited the development of this fishery in the Northeast Atlantic. Therefore, the goal of
this study was to develop a next generation trawl for harvesting zooplankton that was less energy demanding and
more catch efficient than current trawl designs. We assessed the filtration efficiency of low porosity nets with
different solidities and studied the effects of design parameters (mesh opening, twine thickness, porosity, taper
angle) at various flow velocities in a flume tank. We found that the filtration efficiency for a square meshed net
increased with increasing velocity and decreasing solidity and taper angle. A large open area ratio (the ratio
between the open netting area and the net’s mouth area) improved the filtration efficiency at towing velocities
below 0.5 ms− 1
. These results provided an indication of the initial filtration efficiency of the net designs (i.e.,
before any clogging occurs) but not of the sustained filtration efficiency. |
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ISSN: | 0029-8018 1873-5258 1873-5258 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2023.116141 |