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A fairly modern form of fishing which supplanted
beam trawling as technology improved. Trawling is a hazardous
business locally. This is due to the nature of the sea bed,
the strength of the tide and, of course, ancient wrecks and
war debris.
Trawling most probably started in Weymouth
in the late 1950s in vessels of 20’-30’ with small
20-30 horsepower engines. As technology improved bigger engines
were used increasing horsepower, but the average size of vessels
trawling out of Weymouth has never really increased beyond
40’. A boat this size has an average gross tonnage of
between 18 - 50 tons, employing on average 2 people.
Trawling involves a vessel towing a net over
the sea bed for 2-3 hours, thereby tiring the fish until they
fall backwards into the net. The net is then hauled and the
catch lifted to the deck via the cod-end. A typical 2-hour
trawl can yield up to 5 x 5-stone baskets of assorted fish
which is gutted, washed and iced in boxes down in the fish
hold prior to being unloaded and transported to market when
the vessel comes back to port.
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| Fish targeted by a trawl are exceptionally
diverse: cod, pollack, whiting, grey mullet, red mullet, plaice,
skate, brill, turbot, scad, herring, mackerel, bass, squid,
cuttlefish, hake, lobster, crab, sole, conger eels, John Dory,
monkfish - certain fish being more prolific at certain times
of year. |
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As mentioned, trawling is a hazardous business
locally mainly due to the nature of the sea bed, the tides
and, of course, wrecks and war debris.
In the early days of trawling, fishermen generally
towed close inshore using landmarks as a basic form of navigation.
But, with the inexorable march of progress, new navigational
technology came to the trawlerman’s rescue in his constant
search for bigger catches.
Trawlers spend an average of 12-36 hours non-stop
at sea depending on the economic viability of the fishing/damage
to gear ratio.
Their crews do not ‘go to bed’!
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