Next-generation control system to enhance performance of commercial fishing trawlers

Objective
Trawl fishing is one of the most common commercial fishing techniques in the world. Large nets are towed behind a boat and catch massive amounts of fish before being pulled onto the vessel. However, this technique has major drawbacks for those companies using it: as the movement of the nets is extremely difficult to control, captains are required to drastically change the vessels movement and continuously adjust winch control knobs to accommodate the nets position. Thus, they cannot focus efforts on guiding ships, and as a result, there is a waste of fuel in unnecessary, inefficient manoeuvres, and damage to the equipment, which requires constant maintenance. Moreover, the poor ability to control trawl placement also has a negative impact on the environment, as the nets catch unwanted fish or disturb the ecosystems, (e.g. when trawl nets touch the ocean floor as controls do not adjust to maintain a specific depth). Hence, there is a global need for better tools to control trawl nets and vessels in an efficient manner.
We, Naust Marine ehf, count with 24 years of experience in the design and development of winch and trawl control systems for fishing vessels. Our latest development is Smart Trawling, an intelligent control platform that will help address the problems of current trawlers. Smart Trawling utilizes 18 data inputs from the trawl net, vessel, and winches to automatically adjust the nets and vessel to the optimum operating conditions. In this way, with the automated control of Smart Trawling, vessels run more efficiently, without wasting time or fuel compensating for missing the targeted fish or fighting ocean currents: Iceland’s Ministry of Environment determined a 15% reduction of fuel consumption for vessels using Smart Trawling. Additionally, trawling equipment like winches and cables will last longer due to the active management of their forces. With Smart Trawling, European companies will be able to compete in the global fishing industry.

Reference source: Next-generation control system to enhance performance of commercial fishing trawlers