Waldemar Moderhak
Sea Fisheries Institute, Kołłątaja 1, 81-332 Gdynia, Poland

Key words: trawl, protection, codend, cod, meshes turned through 90°.

Abstract.
The decrease of live resources in the seas and oceans in many countries has resulted in the development of research focused on the creation of protective tools to minimize the fishing mortality of undersized fish. One such solution is the Polish selective codend with meshes turned through 90°. This paper presents the results of selectivity tests for this type of codend which were obtained in the second year of research catches in the Baltic Sea. The results reveal that codends with meshes turned through 90° protect both fish which are the target of catches as well as those which are not. The application of this type of codend in commercial fishery may help to rebuild fish stocks in the Baltic Sea.