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Differences in sink rates of baited hooks attached to mainelines and set under varying degrees of tension, were tested aboard pelagic longlines off eastern Australia.  Three mainline configurations were tested 1. surface set tight with no slackness astern, 2. surface set loose with two seconds of slack astern and 3. deep set loose with seven seconds of slack astern.  Baited hooks on tight mainlines reached depth almost twice as quickly (5.8 s) compared to those on the two loose mainline configurations (9.9 s and 11 s).

Experiments were conducted aboard pelagic longline vessels off the east coast of Australia to determine the effects of different bait species (blue mackerel, yellow tail mackerel and squid), live and dead bait, weight of leaded swivels (60 g, 100 g and 160 g) and leader length (2 m, 3 m and 4 m distances between leaded swivel and hook) on the sink rates of hooks.  Live bait sank more slowly than dead bait, increasing the exposure of hooks to seabirds but the sink rates of individual live bait species were very variable.

Three codends 1. a control, 2. a simplified Nordmore-grid and 3. one with a radial escape section were tested aboard trawl vessels off New South Wales Australia, to determine the effects on the catch of bycatch and target species.  The codend with a radial escape section and the simplified Nordmore-grid retained fewer school prawns by weight 11.5% and 4.6% resepectively, compared to the control net.   The Nordmore-grid codend caught 50% fewer yellowfin bream than the radial escape section net and 55% fewer than the control net.