10 Cast Net: Alaska Factory Trawlers

Tuesday 2 October 2012

Alaska Factory Trawlers

Factory trawlers are massive (145 - 360-foot) ships, many of which were formerly oil vessels. These converted vessels not only track and catch their own fish, but also process them in huge factories installed below the boat's trawl deck.Trawlers use high-tech electronic and computer technology to locate targeted species of fish. The skipper's wheelhouse resembles a video arcade. Behind them, the vessels pull huge, open-mouthed drag nets called trawls, the mouths of which are typically about 100 (but up to 240) feet wide and 35 (but up to 180) feet high. As these nets are dragged through the water, they scoop up any fish unfortunate enough to be in their path.At the end of the net is the cod-end, in which the fish are gathered. The size of the cod-end can vary greatly, but is often about the size of a large school bus. Every few hours the net is hauled up, and the cod-end, holding up to 150 tons of fish, is pulled up onto the trawl deck (the aft portion of the main deck). The fish are then dumped through a hatch to the factory below, where they are sorted, processed, and frozen while the next load is caught.