Launched in January last year, Morgère’s Exocet trawl doors have been just the success Michel Dagorn had expected them to be.
‘We did eight months of trials before the doors were launched and I’m happy with them,’ he said. ‘They are very stable and spread well, plus they are easy to shoot and they maintain their spread in a turn or bad weather. They have performed well on everything from groundfish to langoustine fisheries.’
He explained that much of the focus of the design work was to keep the centre of gravity low, the key factor in providing door stability.
‘The centre of gravity is right down low in the Exocet doors. These really are a big step in development from the old Polyfoil and Ovalfoil doors that were Morgère’s trademark products in the past,’ he said, commenting that Exocets are selling well on all of the company’s markets, from its home market in France to Spain, Iceland, Canada and elsewhere around the world. There is even a heavy-duty Exocet version that was developed at the request of Ísfell, Morgère’s dealer in Iceland.
‘These are special hard ground trawl doors that they asked for and wanted right away for some of their customers, so we came up with an Exocet version with plenty of reinforcement, heavier shoes and extra protective plates,’ he said.
The development process continues and Michel Dagorn said that the next step is a new semi-pelagic door, starting with a clean sheet to come up with a new design, and there is work already being done towards this.
