Summary
Field studies were conducted in the Patuxent River, Maryland (U.S.), to quantify the bycatch of cloth-funnel eel pots with small and large openings, and to test the effect of a prototype bycatch reduction device on bycatch and catch. The bycatch reduction device consisted of a 77 mm PVC ring that was rigged around the narrow end of the flexible eel pot entrance and was designed to physically exclude terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin). Eel pots fitted with these bycatch reduction devices eliminated the bycatch of terrapin turtles but had no effect on the size or number of eels caught. These BRDs also did not increase pot handling time.