FISHERIES VESSELS AND GEAR 



From the outboard ends of the head line, two upper lines are run to 

 the towing warps well forward of the otter boards. A "Pilot" panel 

 is secured to each upper line close to the point where it leaves the 

 head line. These "Pilot" panels provide the necessary outward 

 divergence to keep the net's mouth fully open in both a horizontal and 

 and vertical plane. 



Stabilization of the otter boards, which would have a tendency 

 to capsize during mid-water trawling, is accomplished by securing a 

 "Pilot" panel to each board. These stabilizing panels are secured by 

 eye-bolts and assume a position during trawling outside of, and 

 slightly higher than, the otter boards. 



Prior to the development of special gear, such as the Grouselle 

 trawl, mid-water trawls required towingwarps six to seven times as long 

 as the desired fishing depth. These extremely long warps made net 

 handling slow and difficult. Now, with the aid of "Pilot" panels 

 which cause rapid plunging as warp is paid-out or rising as taken in, 

 towing warps no longer than needed for normal bottom work may be 

 used for mid-water fishing as well. 



Trawling has for many years been a dominant harvesting 

 technique employed by the North Sea, Barents Sea, Iceland and 

 Grand Banks fisheries. In the Pacific Ocean, both the Japanese and 

 Russians operate large well-equipped trawler fleets off the Aleutian 

 Islands and around the Sea of Okhotsk. Trawler operations require 

 a substantial capital outlay which has held back development of 

 important new fisheries in many of the less advanced nations. This 

 situation, however, can be expected to continually improve as the 

 world protein shortage forces these nations to look to the sea for 

 survival. 



PAREJA TRAWLING 



The pareja trawl, or pair trawl, constitutes another major har- 

 vesting technique in which a net is towed over the bottom. Pareja 

 trawling requires the services of two vessels steaming or sailing abeam 

 of each other with the net towed between them. Spanish pareja 

 vessels are a familiar sight in the waters between Morocco and the 

 Irish coast including the Bay of Biscay. 



Since pareja trawls are towed between two vessels, they do not 

 need the heavy otter boards and associated gear to keep the net's 

 mouth open. 'The resultant rig, being much lighter, also reduces net 

 buffeting and damage to the catch. Pareja-caught fish, therefore, 

 arrive at market centers in better condition than those caught by 

 otter trawls. Less towing power and larger nets are additional ad- 

 vantages derived from the lighter rigs. 



Figure 4 The 85-foot Spanish pareja 



vessel Ala Izan (Fig 4) was 

 built by Hall. Russell and Co., 

 Ltd. of Aberdeen, Scotland- 

 This vessel is typical of the 

 older vintage pareja craft still 

 working. 



A pair of pareja vessels, after streaming the net, take up station 

 abeam of each other at a range of one-half to three-quarters of a mile 

 apart. Towing speed is about 2 knots. As resistance on the trawl 

 increases during harvest, this range is slowly closed until both vessels 

 are close aboard at the end of towing period. Crews then take turns 

 hauling in the net and stowing fish. Because of the close range 

 involved during trawl recovery operations, fishing is usually limited 



to daylight hours. At no time should any vessel attempt to pass be- 

 tween a pair of pareja vessels engaged in fishing. 



Pair fishing is also widely practiced by Chinese fishermen in the 

 China and Yellow Seas using the traditional sailing junk with no power 

 save the wind. 



During the past few years, however, there has been an extensive 

 modernization program underway in Hong Kong sponsored by the 

 Fisheries Division of the Colony's Department of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries. Through a development loan fund, fishermen are 

 encouraged to put auxiliary power into their sampans and junks to 

 increase their catching capability. Experiments have shown that 

 catches made by powered craft are considerably higher than those 

 made by similar craft without power. Increased catches and better 

 marketing controls enable fishermen to pay back their loans and 

 enjoy a better standard of living. Officials estimate that 65 percent 

 of the Colony's more than 9,000 fishing vessels now have auxiliary 

 power as a result of this program. 



The fishing junk, with or without auxiliary power, is characterized 

 by its two masts, low poop, and heavy windlass as compared with 

 three and foiu- masted cargo /passenger varieties. 



*-S 



Figure 5 Fishing junk, 



LONG-LINE FISHING 



Small open boat long-lining, as once practiced extensively by the 

 famed Grand Banks dorymen, has all but vanished from the list of 

 principal harvesting techniques. Decline of this man-against-the-sea 

 epic can be attributed to increased trawler activity, and a growing 

 shortage of dedicated seamen willing to endure the hardships and 

 loneliness of dory work. 



Today, most commercially important long-lining is conducted 

 directly from medium-sized, well-equipped, power-driven vessels. 

 Lining does not dictate vessel design, therefore, a wide array of vessels 

 are found within the various fisheries with no distinctive characteristic 

 readily evident. Rather, it is the gear itself which reveals the most 

 intelligence to an observer. Lining falls into two categories; subsurface 

 and bottom. 



Subsurface long- lining as pursued by Japanese offshore tuna 

 liners is probably the most active and ambitious effort to be found 

 in any fishery. 



In essence, a long-line is merely a series of individual baskets of 

 line joined together to form a continuous fishing rig up to 15 miles 

 or more in length. Each basket, the basic unit of gear, contains from 

 600 to 2,000 feet of line. 



In subsurface lining a main line, usually of nylon or wire con- 

 struction, is suspended horizontally at the desired depth by means of 

 glass buoyed float lines. Tuna main lines, for example, are set so that 

 hooks will be between 50 and 300 feet below the surface depending 

 upon species to be caught. In addition to the glass floats, a flagged 

 bamboo pole marker is secured to each float line. These flagged 

 markers serve to indicate direction of lay and to warn approaching 

 vessels of the rig's presence. 



At mtervals along the main line, are fastened branch lines called 

 droppers. The length of these droppers and the number used per unit 

 of gear varies with different fisheries. Each, however, consists of 

 a nylon or cotton section, a swivel, and a wire leader secured to a 

 baited hook. 



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