2.1. Fishing-gear configurationsTwo beam assemblies (each 108 kg) were used; comprising an aluminium yacht mast (6.00 m long × 0.14 m wide × 0.08 m deep)and galvanized-steel sleds (1.07 m long × 0.76 m high × 0.10 m base plates) fitted at a distance of 4.41 m apart (Fig. 2a). Each beam was assigned to one side of the trawler throughout the experiment. Two identical trawl bodies (each with 7.25-m headlines and foot ropes)were constructed from nominal 35-mm mesh (0.9-mm Ø twisted polyethylene twine) for use with the beams (Fig. 3). Each trawl body was attached to a conventional Nordmore-grid (28-mm bar spacing) and codend made from nominal 27-mm T45 polyamide mesh (1.25-mm ø braided twine; 120 × 75 B) (Fig. 2a). The footropes of each trawl had twenty-six 6-mm chain drops (135 mm long), and 1.5 kg of 4- and 6-mm chain attached, providing total trawl weights of 15.5 kg (Figs. 2a and 3).