According to Notus Electonics Ltd, “install Notus and you see improved fishing immediately”. The company claims that this has been the result for the ever increasing number of trawlers installing the Trawlmaster.
The Trawlmaster installs on single, twin, triple and quad rigs. A typical installation monitors the spread on each net, measures all trawl wires and provides a middle wire adjustment. Other sensors include headline height, depth, temperature and catch.
Two examples of improved fishing can seen on the FV “Scarlet Chord” and FV “Copious”.
Skipper John McKee of the “Scarlet Chord” says, “before we were guessing and now we are sure. We certainly increased our gross with Notus.” One specific example he provides, “when going from hard to soft bottom you can see the gear is under-spreading and make the proper adjustments. Now if I tow for six hours and if prawns are on the ground, I know I'm for a good haul.” In setting up new trawl gear John comments he has had “new nets and new doors set up very quickly. Normally this would have taken much more time.”
Skipper Mark Anderson of the “Copious” has also seen immediate payback from the Trawlmaster. He says “on the first tows the readings from Notus showed we were over-spreading the gear and that when the engine speed dropped below 1150 rpm, the doors became unstable.”
On adjusting the wires, Mark comments “implementing the small adjustment for the length of the middle wire calculated by the Notus system has immediate benefits in terms of gear opening.” In reference to the detailed spread history, Mark says “the pattern of the doorspread achieved throughout the tow is useful, as any changes quickly become apparent and you can avoid wasting fuel when continuing to tow, for example, after a net has picked up a boulder or a sweep might have parted.”
