Horton et al (2025) Effects of illumination and pot design on catch and bycatch when targeting northern shrimp (pandalus borealis) using white LED PotLights ScienceDirect
This study explores whether white LED lights and modified pot designs can improve catches of northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) while reducing bycatch. The results indicate that illuminated pots can increase shrimp catches, but they also revealed important drawbacks, including a strong increase in juvenile poor cod bycatch (around 88% higher catch rates across pot types) and a significant reduction in Norway lobster catches (about 48% lower catch rates). Furthermore, the fishing capacity of pots remains much lower than that of active mobile gears such as bottom trawls used in commercial shrimp fisheries. As a result, while LED pots may improve the performance of passive gear, they are not currently a practical alternative to mobile bottom fishing gear for maintaining production levels, and further research would be needed to evaluate their viability at commercial scale.
