EXPERT ON BOARD
20 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com APRIL 2016A yachtsman’s guide to shipping
Fishing vessels and service boats
I
nshore fi shing occurs almost
anywhere in coastal waters:
we’re all familiar with the
half-submerged buoy marking
the end of a chain of pots.
Encounters with larger vessels
are rarer, except when they set
out or return to land their catch
trailing a fl ock of seagulls and an
unmistakable smell.
Fishing has three sectors;
pelagic, demersal and shellfi sh.
Each involves different
techniques and locations,
depending on the time of year,
quota allocations and weather.
Pelagic fi shing catches fi sh
near the surface like herring,
mackerel, sprats and whiting.
Mackerel migrate from the
spawning areas west of
Ireland from March to July to
the North Sea for the winter.
Herring, less mobile, are
found west of Scotland and
in the North Sea. Pelagic
trawlers operating out of
Shetland and the Moray
Firth ports are among the
largest and most profi table
fi shing boats. Craft usingdrift nets target smaller herring
fi sheries elsewhere.
Demersal fi sh, on or near the
seabed, are caught with 5-80m
long nets towed behind trawlers.
Larger vessels haul their catches
up a stern ramp, smaller ones
over the side. Fish are processed
by the crew and stored in chilled
holds before being landed.
Given the high cost of marine
mortgages, fuel and equipment,
coping with bad weather and
fi nding crew, it’s a tough industry.
Fishing boats encountered
at sea are either on passage to
and from the grounds, engaged
in fi shing or, in bad weather,
hove to. Speeds vary from nearstopped to 3-5 knots while
trawling, and between 8-15 knots
or more on passage. Fishing boats
at night often display bright deck
working lights, which makes them
very visible but can detract from
their ability to see you.
Except for the large, grey-
painted Royal Fleet Auxiliary
vessels that operate very closely
with the Royal Navy, most
support and service vessels are
relatively small. They are normally
encountered in harbours, port
approaches and coastal waters,
or servicing offshore oil and gas
platforms. They include vessels
that tend buoys and light
vessels, or are engaged inGRAPHICS: MMOFishing vessels will not follow defi ned routes, they go wherever the fi sh take them, while pilot boats, wind
farm support vessels and dredgers rarely venture far from portdredging, towing, the offshore
sector, fi shery protection,
surveying and research.
On encountering a vessel that
doesn’t appear to be on passage
anywhere, those on watch should
look for signals, lights or shapes
that indicate she is restricted in
her ability to manoeuvre or is
performing a specifi c task, and
act accordingly.
Many service boats, particularly
pilot launches and wind
farm support vessels,
propel at quite high
speed and are highly
manoeuvrable. They also
operate in well-
defi ned areas.A trawler heads offshore from
Lerwick, her deck working lights
blazing through the duskPHOTO: ALAMYPHOTO BELOW: TOM CUNLIFFE
Coastal fi shing
boats are smaller
and operate
with just one
or two crew