Flow Gear hopper footropes have been performing successfully in Norway for the last two years, with this gear in use on board four trawlers there, as well as one in Germany and another in the UK. In Iceland Saherji’s fresher trawler Björg EA-7 is fishing with the latest version of Flow Gear, adapted for the the rough fishing grounds in Icelandic waters.
Developed by Mørenot and Hampiðjan, these hopper footropes are constructed with semi-circular sections in heavy plastic instead of conventional rubber discs. During a tow with standard gear a large section of the footrope lifts off the sea bed when an obstacle is encountered. With Flow Gear only those sections passing over the obstruction lift.
Demersal fishing gear in Iceland tends to be different from the gear used in Norway, as Icelandic grounds are generally harder and coarser than elsewhere in the north-east Atlantic – which demands more resilient Flow Gear footropes to cope with these conditions.
Development work with Samherji went into adapting this gear for Icelandic grounds. Trials began on board Björg EA-7, where this gear has been mainly in use since mid-January. The design of the protective steel fittings has been altered to enable the semi-circular plastic sections the necessary flexibility to bend under tension when they hit an obstruction, while returning to their original shape as soon as the tension is released. Sacrificial surfaces have been modified to prevent the bolts holding protective steel sheaths from shearing. Netting had a tendency to be pulled into the semi-circular sections from behind, but this problem has been solved by using rounded bolts and by replacing chain that was liable to part with soft Robus super-rope.
‘It has been a real pleasure to work with the crew of Björg on this development. We’re now completing changes to the configuration of the last sections in the footrope, which will prolong its working lifetime. It’ll be exciting to see how this plays out,’ said Hampiðjan fishing gear technologist Einar Skaftason.
The configuration reduces the overall tension on the gear, enabling a better opening and stability during a tow. Trials also indicate that water flow up and over the footrope serves to direct fish more effectively into the gear. Tthis footrope design has been shown to have a lower effect on the seabed compared to conventional rubber footropes.
The Flow Gear footrope on board Björg is approximately 6000kg lighter than a comparable rubber disk hopper foortope, making the gear much more easily handled on deck. This means less tension on the winches when hauling and shooting, a smaller deck space requirement and replacing sections if required is an easier process.
