Midwater trawling is towing the trawl through free water away from the bottom of the ocean.

Distribution of bocaccio catches by 20-m depth interval for bottom and midwater trawling.

Midwater trawling catches pelagic fish such as anchovies, tuna, and mackerel.

Midwater trawling is also known as pelagic trawling.

Midwater trawling is trawling, or net fishing, at a depth that is higher in the water column than the bottom of the ocean.

Trawling can be divided into bottom trawling and midwater trawling, depending on how high the trawl (net) is in the water column.

Midwater trawling (pelagic trawling) is trawling, or net fishing nearer the surface of the ocean.

Because the Chatham Rise is relatively shallow, it is accessible to both midwater trawling and bottom trawling.

Catches in midwater trawling occur while targeting on yellowtail (Sebastes flavidus) and widow rockfish (S. entomelas).

Bottom trawling can be contrasted with midwater trawling (also known as pelagic trawling), where a net is towed higher in the water column.

Concerns were expressed by some about midwater trawling and its effects on the mackerel resource, as well as the increased use of tuck seines which are considered more efficient than gillnets.

Midwater trawling catches pelagic fish such as anchovies, tuna, and mackerel, whereas bottom trawling targets both bottom-living fish (groundfish) and semi-pelagic species such as cod, squid, shrimp, and rockfish.

In midwater trawling, a cone-shaped net can be towed behind a single boat and spread by trawl doors, or it can be towed behind two boats (pair trawling) which act as the spreading device.

A western-rigged trawler, David Starr Jordan was designed and rigged for midwater trawling, bottom trawling, longline sets, plankton tows, oceanographic casts, ocean-bottom sample grabs, scuba diving, and visual surveys of marine mammals and seabirds.

The council also discussed the National Marine Fisheries Service's decision this summer not to implement all of the measures the council approved last year to protect Atlantic herring, citing funding issues; the group tabled a motion to prohibit midwater trawling in the region until those rules are put into place.