The assessment of the fishing capacity of nets by physical rather
than by biological parameters seems to be important as such measurements are independent of variations in the abundance of the
local fish populations (Revill and Dunlin, 2003). In the present
experiment, net height decreased sharply within the first 2 months
after deployment, and then gradually until it finally stabilised near
the bottom. Nets fishing area was also greatly reduced during the
study period, especially for those set in sandy bottoms where values
lower than 5% were attained in only 2 months. Authors who have
set experimental nets in inshore waters reported similar trends of
lost trammel nets evolution and lifetime (Kaiser et al., 1996; Erzini
et al., 1997).