Sorting device for trawl nets

In a trawl net having a mouth opening to an inside region formed by a bottom panel, a top panel, side panels, and an enclosed cod end for capturing marine life, a sorting device comprising:

• exit means for permitting marine life passing through said inside region to exit to the outside of the net;
• and
• wall means positioned in the inside region of the net for creating a water disturbance upstream of said exit means, the wall means defining an inlet that communicates with said exit means, whereby preselected marine life are directed toward the cod end and nonselected marine life are directed through said inlet to said exit means to thereby exit the trawl net.

A sorting device for hydrodynamically sorting marine life in a trawl net, the net having a mouth opening to an inside region formed by a top panel, a bottom panel, side panels and a cod end for capturing marine life, the apparatus comprising:

• an opening in the bottom panel of the net;
• an inflatable funnel having an inlet at one end and an outlet at the other end, said funnel being oriented in the inside region of the net to have said inlet facing toward the mouth of the net, said funnel being positioned on the bottom panel of the net so that said outlet of said funnel communicates with the opening in the bottom panel of the net, whereby when the net is pulled through the water, the funnel creates a water disturbance adjacent said inlet that causes preselected marine life to avoid entering said funnel and permits nonselected marine life to enter the funnel and pass through the opening in the bottom panel to the outside of the net.