More fish for Dutch trawler with WASSP

Developed and manufactured in New Zealand by Electronic Navigation Ltd and sold by WASSP’s Netherlands distributor WNL Marine, it was installed in October 2008.

The Johanna Maria fishes for herring, mackerel, horse mackerel, sardinella, blue whiting and other mid-water schooling fish, mostly in western European waters, but also off the coast of West Africa during summer.

She fishes mostly in water between 50 and 200m deep, but occasionally trawls as deep as 1000m. Johanna Maria is a mid-water trawler, but often fishes very close to the bottom, so there is always a risk of fouling fishing gear, especially since the best fishing grounds feature hard bottoms with plenty of ravines and pinnacles.

Mr van der Meij is enjoying the advantages WASSP gives him. WASSP technology has proven excellent at locating fish, particularly those schooling close to the bottom, and determining the density and orientation of the school. He then uses WASSP to monitor fish movements in real time and to adjust his trawl to one side or another to intercept them as they react to the ship and its fishing gear.

The results include more fish in the boat for less effort, time and fuel, as well as a reduction in lost and/or damaged gear.

Johanna Maria’s owner, Dutch fishing company Jaczon BV, is so impressed with the results Mr van der Meij is enjoying that it has ordered three more WASSP systems for its fleet.

The new systems will go into boats of similar size and application, says Wim Lansbergen, Managing Director of WNL Marine, who will also supply and install them.