Physical impact of a roller clump on the seabed

Ana Ivanovic, Jianfeng Zhu, Richard Neilson, Finbarr O'Neill

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingPublished conference contribution

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The envionmental impact of towed demersal gears on benthic communities has been of concern for the last couple of decades. Knowledge of the response of benthic habitats to impacts from fishing gears is of great importance to the ecosystem and the long-term management of sustainable fisheries. An on-going EU project, DEGREE (DEvelopment of Fishing Gears with Reduced Effects on the Environment), addresses this concern by focusing on quantifying the environmental and ecological impacts of fishing, developing fishing gears with reduced environmental impact, and assessing the socio-economic consequences of these changes.

This paper focuses primarily on the modelling of the interaction between a gear component, the roller clump of a twin trawl, and the seabed in terms of penetration and disturbance of the seabed. A finite element model of this interface has been developed and is able to predict the penetration depth, sediment displacement and the pressure field associated with each gear component. In order to verify these predictions, sea trials have taken place over a range of sediment types at depths accessible to scientific divers using SCUBA diving techniques. This has allowed sampling of the seabed and profiling of the disturbed region for comparison with the model results. Good agreement is found.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationASME 2008 27th International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering (OMAE2008)
Subtitle of host publicationOcean Engineering - Offshore Renewable Energy
Place of PublicationNew York
PublisherAMER SOC MECHANICAL ENGINEERS
Pages723-727
Number of pages5
Volume4
ISBN (Print)978-0-7918-4821-0
Publication statusPublished - 2008
Event27th International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering - Estoril
Duration: 15 Jun 200820 Jun 2008

Conference

Conference27th International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering
CityEstoril
Period15/06/0820/06/08

Keywords

  • trawling
  • modelling
  • dynamics
  • sustainability
  • sea trials
  • COD-ENDS
  • NET

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Physical impact of a roller clump on the seabed'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this