August 1966 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 9 



Interest has also increased in the construction of multipurpose combination fishing ves- 

 sels in the Gulf of Mexico. The mushrooming offshore oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico has 

 required great numbers of vessels to serve its needs. Oil survey vessels are used for seis- 

 mic explorations, to transport cargo, to ferry workers to and from offshore drilling plat- 

 forms, and for general utility work. Because of this growing industry, a style of vessel was 

 developed that is readily adaptable for use in shrimp and industrial fish trawling as well as 

 snapper fishing. Their simplicity of design tends to reduce the cost and enables them to be 

 built by even the smallest shipyards in the Gulf of Mexico area. This type of vessel has con- 

 siderable application in other areas of the world where oil explorations as well as fishing 

 operations are carried out. 



RECENT DEVELOPMENTS OF FISHING VESSELS 



Many of the recent developments were discussed but the main item discussed under this 

 topic was the trend toward smaller stern trawlers. It was indicated that designing a small 

 stern trawler is often more difficult than designing a large one, because the problems are 

 greater, often more controversial and the requirements are contradictory. For example, a 

 small boat skipper wants the biggest boat with the lowest tonnage and price. He wants the 

 ease of remote -control of operations, but he wants mechanical simplicity. He also wants a 

 multipurpose vessel on which he can change operations while at sea. It was the general con- 

 sensus that compromises will be effected and the future importance of small stern trawlers 

 should not be underestimated. 



CONCLUSIONS 



Probably the most significant developments on a worldwide basis and brought out at the 

 meeting were : 



(1) Increased mechanization and increased efficiency of the fishing fleet of 



most countries will be necessary to offset the decreasing labor supply. 



(2) More steady platforms would provide seakindliness and permit more 



mechanization. 



(3) Use of computers in designing vessels is on a threshold of possible 



great development and will provide significant savings in time and 

 money. 



(4) Plastics (FRP) will be used more and more on a worldwide basis. 



(5) Use of wraparound hull surface method may be significant in saving 



time and money. 



(6) The use of combination vessels will increase considerably. 



(7) The use of drums for trawl fishing will soon spread to many areas. 



(List of papers presented at the Third Technical Meeting on Fishing Boats appears on 

 page 10.) 



