In May 2025, a 10-day trial in the western Irish Sea Nephrops fishery put FloMo head-to-head with the standard 300mm square-mesh panel.
Across 22 tows, the FloMo gear successfully met the primary trial objective by significantly reducing the bycatch of sub-MCRS (Minimum Conservation Reference Size) whiting.
• 59% reduction in sub-MCRS whiting bycatch in tows 1–11(even though there were some technical deployment issues in these tows).
• 74% reduction in tows 12–22 after minor gear adjustments with the FloMo setup.
Same fishery. Same conditions. Measured against the control trawl.
We acknowledge that we still have work to do with Nephrops size selectivity for tailed products but we’re confident we will be able to achieve that and deliver:
Less unwanted catch. Better selectivity. Smarter fishing.
That’s a win for fish stocks — and a win for fishers.
While retention of ‘whole’ Nephrops was similar across gears, overall catch rates with FloMo were lower than with traditional codends.
The results provided a promising starting point, but as is typical for any first-of-its-kind gear trial, with subsequent trials to then refine and optimise the design to achieve the desired outcomes.
Stay tuned for updates from recent New Zealand scampi trials as an example of FloMo’s potential to reduce bycatch and increase size selectivity without compromising on catch rates.
Read the full trial results here
FloMo. A better way to fish.