Summary
An excluder grate (grid) was tested in the silver hake trawl fishery in Massachusetts Bay to determine it's effectiveness in reducing spiny dogfish bycatch. The effects of color (white or black), angle and direction of the 50 mm spaced grids were investigated through video observations and data collection. The number of spiny dogfish caught in trawls with the excluder grate were greatly reduced for all gear configurations, while the number of target species caught remained within typical commercial quantities. Over 88% of spiny dogfish were excluded by the grate regardless of color or gear configuration. There were no observed differences in the behavior of spiny dogfish between gear configurations or grate colors.