Catch rate of trawlers in relation to their technical parameters

Abstract

This paper presents results of the research on determination of the daily catch rate of vessel-trawl system. Mean, long-term catch rates and peak catch coefficients are expressed in function of trawl towing horsepower and vessel’s ability to utilize the caught raw materials, viz. hold capacity - for wet fish trawlers, or processing and freezing capacity - for factory and freeezing trawlers. Daily catch rate statistics and measurements of trawling system characteristics, carried out on some Polish fishing cutters (small trawlers), were used to determine the above mentioned relationships for the Polish cutter fleet in the Baltic Sea. (Results of measurements of trawl resistance and catch rates of Polish trawlers used in the North and Southern Atlantic and the North Pacific are presented elsewhere [2].)