A trawl supplied by Russian fishing gear manufacturer Fishering Service (FS) has helped Greenland pelagic vessel Polar Amaroq break its own records this summer.
‘This trawl just swallows fish,’ skipper Geir Zoega on Greenlandic pelagic vessel Polar Amaroq said. ‘The boys on the deck have invented all kinds of names for it that you wouldn’t dare print.’
Polar Amaroq is towing a 2200 metre trawl made in a combination of hex and diamond mesh that was delivered new in 2015. This year a new 160 metre belly and a 77 metre codend, both of which are made in eight panels, were delivered in time for this year’s mackerel fishery.
Polar Amaroq did well on mackerel last year, and with the full package from FS has surpassed its own record this summer; making it the most successful pelagic vessel in Greenland two years in a row since replacing its old gear with the FS trawl.
The 2200 metre trawl is made in a combination of diamond and hexagonal meshes, with diamond mesh in the forenet, leading to a hexagonal mesh section and back to diamond mesh in the belly – and this is not Geir Zoega’s first experience of FS gear.
‘In 2013 were pair trawling opposite Birtingur and they were towing an FS 1920m trawl. We really liked the look of it and decided then that we’d have to get one of our own,’ he said, commenting that the belly and codend delivered for this year’s season have been a winning combination
‘This is the first time we’ve used a codend and new belly from FS. We’re very happy with it, and it’s noticeable that there are no stickers anywhere in the belly. We had a 695 tonne shot of mackerel and hauled when all the sensors lit up, but as the gear was being hauled we were wondering if there was anything in there as there wasn’t a single gilled fish to be seen anywhere in the belly.’
‘Now we’ve just switched to herring and had 250 tonnes in the first tow and 200 tonnes in the next one, which is more than enough for production,’ he said, adding that they also managed two full capacity mackerel trips in two weeks, each time landing in Iceland with both the 700 tonne refrigerated fishroom and the RSW tanks full, making each of these trips a full 2000 tonnes.
He commented that the FS trawl has performed perfectly, hurriedly knocking on wood when he said that it has been shot and hauled with no problems every time. The 2200 metre trawl easily comfortably achieves a 220 metre spread between the wing ends, plus it is light to tow and manoeuvres easily, in spite of its 12-tonne weight and the 75 metre vertical opening and the 220 metre spread.
He said that they have done well on mackerel this summer, pair trawling opposite partner Polar Princess. Even on slow days when mackerel marks have been sparse, Polar Amaroq and Polar Princess have been fishing well, often catching as much between them as the rest of the fleet combined, but he said that in general there have been good marks.
’There’s plenty to be seen,’ he said. ‘We’ve been exclusively pair trawling this year and last year, plus we did a lot of pair trawling in 2013, which is when we first got to see how the FS gear performs.’
‘Mackerel are right on the surface,’ Geir Zoega added. ‘But when you’re pair trawling it’s no problem at all to keep the trawl high in the water, and the trawl from FS is fishing as well on herring as it does on mackerel.’
Polar Amaroq’s owners have been impressed enough with the performance of the Fishering Service gear over two summers of fishing for mackerel and herring that they plan to place an order for a new trawl for next year, this time made in FS’s own PEN overbraided ropes.
