Through fishing trials conducted in the North Sea, this study compared the bycatch reduction capacity in the Norway pout (Trisopterus esmarkii) small-meshed trawl fishery between trawls fitted with a standard sorting grid and trawls fitted with a new, more flexible system called the 'Excluder". The trawls fitted with the Excluder significantly reduced the bycatch (in weight) of nine whitefish species: blue whiting, mackerel, horse mackerel, herring, haddock, whiting, cod, European hake, and greater argentine. There was no significant difference (in weight) in the target catch, but there may be a marginal decrease in overall catch efficiency of 1.4% as some bycatch species (horse mackerel, blue whiting, greater argentine) are legally accepted and profitable in Norway.