A modern steam trawler is from 150 to 160 ft. long by 25 ft. beam and 12 ft. depth, constructed with a high bow and a low, flat stern. Her net tonnage is from 60 to 200, her bunker capacity 250 tons, with storage room for up to 120 tons of fish. She is fitted with triple expansion engines of from 40 to 85 horse power. The forward part of the ship is occupied by the living quarters of the crew, rope and net store, iceroom, and fish-hold. Larger vessels, making trips to distant grounds, will take as much as 30 tons of broken ice; this ice is distributed over the fish in layers, after they have been cleaned and gutted. In practically all modern fishing ports there is a special ice factory situated near the quay, and ice is manufactured by the ammonia process, crushed, and delivered to the ships through zinc-lined chutes. The fish-hold in the forward part of the ship extends right across the ship and is from 9 to 10 ft. high, divided by a partition into two compartments, each compartment fitted with two shelves 5 ft. long, on which the fish are piled. These shelves reduce compression and facilitate the storage of the fish, the front of each compartment being closed with boards as it becomes full. She generally carries three or four trawl nets, one on her starboard and the other on her port, one or two being down below in reserve. The boat is fitted with four gallows, two forward and two aft, one on each side of the boat. These gallows are used for lifting the otter boards out of the water when the trawl is hauled in.
The ship carries nine hands, consisting of skipper, mate, boatswain, two deck hands, cook, two engineers and a fireman.
On the fishing grounds, fishing is continuous. The net is trawled for from two to four hours, although on grounds where fish is plentiful (e.g. Iceland) the trawl is frequently hauled every half-hour. It is then hauled aboard, and the cod end containing the fish is swung over the deck. The cod line is unfastened so that the cod end of the net opens, and the fish are discharged into a pound formed on the deck by horizontal 9″ × 3″ deal boards. The net is cleaned and shot again.
On smooth ground trawling is commercially possible at all depths down to 300 fathoms. In few cases, however, is trawling carried on at greater depths than 200 fathoms.
Owing to the large amount of stores and repairs, etc., connected with the maintenance of a fleet of steam trawlers, most large owners maintain fairly elaborate premises in the neighbourhood of the fish dock. These premises generally consist of a net-making hall in which nets are made by women working with shuttles, a large bath of tar or tanning material below in which the net is soaked, also a wood yard and blacksmith’s shop, containing a steam hammer, a plumber’s shop, a boat-builder’s shop, a large store-room fitted with the necessary stores and spares.
During the war the steam trawlers were commandeered by the Government for use as patrol boats and mine sweepers. It is estimated that 10 per cent of our steam trawlers and drifters and their crews were lost during the war.
Fig. 17
A.—The otter trawl.
B.—Attachment of board to net. OB. Otter board. B. Iron brackets. C. Chain to connect with warps. M. Metal strengthening pieces. M′. Iron shoe. HL. Head line. UW. Upper wing. LW. Lower wing. LL. Lacing connecting wings. GR. Ground rope. D. Balch of lower wing. SSS. Twine settings connecting balch to ground rope. A. Headline and lacing connected to board by shackle. B. Toe of ground rope connected to board by shackle.
C.—Bosom of a bobbin foot-rope for use on rough ground. AB. Balch line on head of belly and connecting with bosom of wings. SS. Wire seizings connecting balch to small intermediate bobbins, 6″ diameter (EE). Large bobbins up to 24″ diameter (FF).