Figure 3.1 – Catch Limitation System (CLS), General Overview: consists of a four-panel cylinder of netting, approximately 16m long, inserted between the trawl and cod-end, that incorporates several key components: escape openings, a “fish lock” and cod-end choking unit. The rig should allow free passage of the catch from the trawl into the cod-end during the fishing process, until the cod-end is full. The escape openings therefore should prevent escape during the normal fishing process, but once the cod-end is full should then enable fish to escape freely with minimal risk of crowding and abrasive injury. The fish lock should permit free passage into the cod-end during the normal fishing operation. But, once the cod-end is full and/or during heaving, the catch on the cod-end side of the fish-lock should press against the fish-lock netting, closing it, and preventing any loss of the catch retained in the cod-end through the escape opening. The catch sensors and trawl-eye are technologies that inform the skipper of when the cod-end is full of catch. The cod-end choking unit releases the retained catch into the residual cod-end during haul-back.
