Although the 4.9 m trawl is the primary gear used in this sampling programme, alternative gears such as this one are sometimes used when the large trawl is unfeasible.

A 30.5 x 1.8 m small-mesh gillnet (3.81 cm stretch mesh mono-filament) paired with an 37.5 x 1.8 m experimental gillnet (7.5 m panels from 3.8 to 10.1 cm stretch mesh multi-filament) is an alternative gear used iwth un-even bottoms where trawling is not feasible, such as over cobble substrates.  Gillnets are anchored and fished overnight, perpendicular to shore.  Effort is recorded in nights gillnet was fished and would consist of one night each for paired placement of one small-mesh and one experimetnal net at each sampling location.