In 2006, according to an order by Murmansk Trawl Fleet, Fishering Service constructed and commissioned the ''SuperSquall'' mid-water trawl for the blue whiting fishery.
The trawl has a 300m head line, has a horizontal spread of 200m and a vertical spread of 110m. The company says that usually such spreading can only be achieved with significantly longer head line and wings.
In this case a 'collecting' effect is reached by using a rhombic type mesh in the wings. Further transition to the hexagonal type mesh provides a 'lightening' entrance of the school in the trawl. The fish tend to escape from the 'noisy' rhombic mesh in the wings to the following 'silent' hexagonal mesh. Such a combination of the meshes forms a natural shelter for the school.
The rope part is constructed of 12 strands of nylon rope of tube design. As research in the flume tank has shown, this type of rope provides minimal drag during fishing.
The fishing vessel Admiral Shabalin was where the new SuperSquall mid-water trawl was commissioned for the first time. The use of this trawl provided a triple increase in the catch.
On a trawling speed of 4.5-4.7 knots, the loading on the wire was 20t. The catching time for 100t of blue whiting moving in medium school was less than five minutes. In seven days Admiral Shabalin had caught the same amount of fish as it used to catch in 15-20 days and thus saved about 400t of fuel.
According to the results of Admiral Shabalin's fishing trip, Murmansk Trawl Fleet equipped five more of its vessels with SuperSquall mid-water trawls, despite the relatively high price.
Initially designed for catching blue whiting, SuperSquall is also recommended for catching herring and mackerel.
