Beam Trawl

A beam trawl is a towed bottom net held open horizontally by a rigid steel beam, typically 4 to 12 meters wide, with tickler chains or chain mats ahead of the net to drive flatfish and shrimp off the seabed into the bag. It targets sole, plaice, and brown shrimp on sandy and muddy grounds, mainly in the North Sea. Because the gear is dragged on the bottom with heavy beam shoes, it has high seabed contact and fuel use per kilogram landed, which drove the trials of electric pulse stimulation as a lighter alternative before the EU banned that method in 2021.