Prawn Trawl Nets with TEDs

The prawn trawl nets (pictured above) are used to catch fresh seafood in the waters of South East Queensland. TEDs have been developed to release all large non-target species in the commercial trawl nets.

How TEDs work in a trawl net

TEDs are a modification to the trawl net that allow larger animals to escape unharmed after being taken into the net.

TEDs are usually fitted into a trawl net at the beginning of the codend (see picture). At this point in the net, water-flow is fastest and maximises the ability of a TED to separate target animals, such as prawns and crabs, from larger non-target animals.

TEDs usually include a metal grid, much like a storm-water-drain grate (hard TEDs) or a panel of large mesh webbing (soft TEDs) that is installed at an angle between 40° and 60°. This creates a physical barrier that allows prawns and other animals smaller than the bar spacing of a hard TED or mesh webbing of a soft TED to pass through the TED and into the codend. Sea turtles, other large animals and debris slide along the TED to an exit hole cut in the top (top opening TED) or bottom of the TED (bottom opening TED). The exit hole may be partially covered by a flap of webbing to reduce the possibility of losing prawns.

TEDs come in many designs and like other fishing gear, no single design of TED is suitable for all fishing conditions. When working properly, catch loss associated with these devices is minimal, with indications that they may improve the quality or the quantity of the prawn catch in certain circumstances.

TEDs and the law

The mandatory use of TEDs is helping to prevent sea turtles from being caught in Australian trawl fisheries. TEDs have been made compulsory in the following trawl fisheries of Australia:Queensland East Coast Trawl Fishery daytime and inshore trawling (from January 2000) Northern Prawn Fishery (Gulf of Carpentaria, Arnhem land coast and Joseph Bonaparte Gulf) (from April 2000) Torres Strait Prawn Fishery (from March 2001) Queensland East Coast Trawl Fishery - all areas except river beam trawl (from January 2002) Other trawl fisheries in Australia (i.e., in South Australia and Western Australia) have also made TEDs compulsory in their prawn-trawl fisheries.