PONE-D-20-04124

Simulated trawling: Exhaustive swimming followed by extreme crowding as contributing reasons to variable fillet quality in trawl-caught Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua)

PLOS ONE

Dear Dr SVALHEIM,

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Ruud van den Bos, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

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Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

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Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #2: The authors try to simulate the different processes that involve a trawl situation and see the cumulative effects of these different processes on metabolic parameters and flesh quality subsequently of wild-caught Atlantic cod. This is achieved by simulation of exhaustive swimming followed by extreme crowding. Secondary was investigated whether post-stress recuperation could mitigate the negative effects on stress and fillet quality.

The manuscript is generally well written and the level of English is adequate.

The use of figures to explain the experimental design is a bonus and makes it much easier to comprehend the experiment.

I agree with a previous reviewer that the word fillet quality envelops more than is analyzed in this paper. Fillet colour and pH might be better to address what has been measured.

Discussion & Conclusion

The discussion and conclusions are short and to the point and don’t seem to contain irrelevant discussion or unsupported conclusions anymore.

Figures:

Unfortunately the quality of the figures is poor. I don’t know if this is due to the uploading process, but the quality needs to be improved. In this state the text in the figures is hardly readable. No significant differences are shown in the figures, I would suggest adding these so the figures show all information without reading the text.

Minor changes:

Line 57: an, a

Line 58: Short-term

Line 67: something is missing in this sentence, referring to “Both” and only one argument is given

Line 92: live, alive

Line: 102: non, of

Line 148: taken out, captured

Line 153: m s-1

Line 188: (4x4 cm), hole size I assume?

Line 189: Mars, March

Line 206: obtained from, measured in

Line 245: assaying, analyses

Line 326: haemosglobin, haemoglobin

Line 331: (N= 21, N = 21

Line 342: (N= 21, N = 21

Line 407: space

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Reviewer #2: No

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Simulated trawling: Exhaustive swimming followed by extreme crowding as contributing reasons to variable fillet quality in trawl-caught Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua)

PONE-D-20-04124R1

Dear Dr. SVALHEIM,

We are pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it complies with all outstanding technical requirements.

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With kind regards,

Ruud van den Bos, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments: