The most important of all: Sonar. Efficient fishing@W10° 13", N57° 20"

One of the latest pelagic fishing vessels in Norway - Teigenes

Teigenes, one of the latest pelagic fishing vessels in Norway is about to end this season's blue whiting fishery with great success. Efficiency is a key factor when you spend NOK 50.000, - in fuel per day searching for fish.

Teigenes has top of the line equipment from Simrad on board and skipper Ottar Jarle Solli really knows how to use his equipment in the most efficient manner. He is of the "old school" and prefers a dynamic sonar picture. When I suggest using some of the advanced filters and transmit formats available on the sonar, he just smiles. - You just play with the sonar, but I doubt you will find more fish than me....
I didn't, but I could see he was watching over my shoulder....

The sonar we are talking about is of course the Simrad SP90. With this fish finding sonar you can detect a school of blue whiting at 5000 to 6000 meters (!) and track it all the way in to the trawl. Since the skipper likes a dynamic sonar picture he sets the range on 4500m (only) and we start the search. It doesn't take long before we see the first school at the very edge of the screen, and the skipper flashes a new smile.
- This will be a short tow, he says.

The guys on deck prepare the trawl with four PI catch sensors, a PI depth sensor and the FS trawl sonar, and off it goes in to the sea. The fish is located at 450 m depth, and we pay out about 1200 m wire. The trawl size is 640 m from head rope to cod end, and with the head rope 400 m behind the doors, the total distance between PI Catch sensors and the vessel is roughly 2100 m. Before the trawl reaches the trawling depth at 450 m we can see a huge "sausage" on the ES60 echo sounder and the skipper keeps on smiling. We receive steady signals from all the PI sensors. Three of them communicate with the FS trawl sonar, and the last communicates with the ship's hull mounted hydrophone. After some very long minutes we can clearly see the fish entering the trawl opening. The FS trawl sonar truly provides this vital information in a most efficient manner. After about 20 more minutes all four catch sensors are triggered, and we will soon be filling the vessel with impressive 500 tons of fish. That's what I call a short tow....

Teigenes can carry 2000 tons of blue whiting, so after three more tows we are finished and can set course back home. The landed value of our catch is about NOK 2.3 million. Not bad for a week at sea!

There is a big commercial interest in the blue whiting in the north eastern parts of the Atlantic Sea. The blue whiting lives on depths between 50 and 1500 meters. Spawning does happen locally along the Norwegian coast, but the major population spawns around Ireland in March and April, before migrating back to the Norwegian Sea, passing on the north side of the British Isles. The blue whiting fishery used to be "Olympic fishery" meaning that the vessels could catch as much as they wanted within a timeframe, but it is now regulated. This has lead to increased prices and hopefully a more sustainable fishery.

Archive

Echomaster Marine are Moving

01/03/2010 -

We are expanding and are moving from our current office in Buckie to new premises at 21 Shore Street in Macduff, directly opposite the harbour. From 6th April our telephone number will be 01261 831644.

Happy New Year!!!

05/01/2010 -

Echomaster Marine would like to wish all our Customers, Dealers and Suppliers a very Happy New Year. We have a number of very special offers available.

30/10/2009 -

Echomaster Marine recently installed the new Simrad SX93 Low Frequency Omni Directional Sonar on James Duthie Fraserburgh based pelagic trawler, Sunbeam and are pleased to report excellent results. Small schools of mackerel and herring were consistently detected at 2000 metres and during the trip a school of Mackerel 3.5km long and 50m deep was recorded. It was the largest single school anyone onboard had seen recorded on a sonar.

Simrad SX90 Now with Audio Output

23/05/2009 -

Simrad have answered user requests for sound and enhanced noise filtering on the SX90 Sonar. Users need only to connect a pair of powered speakers to the SX90 computer to take full advantage of the new audio functionality.

22/05/2009 -

With a full range of electonic equipment on display, ensuring something for everyone. Sales manager Yvonne James advised nearly everyone who spent time on our stand intended to evaluate products before purchasing.

12/03/2009 -

Echomaster Marine, the UK distributor for Honda Electronics of Japan have taken delivery of the new 10 inch and 15 inch Flexible Frequency LCD Echosounders from Hondex.

23/02/2009 -

Echomaster Marine will once again be exhibiting at Fishing 2009 in Glasgow, between 14th and 16th May, Stand A28. We are also pleased to confirm we will be exhibiting at Seawork in Southampton, Stand 140, for the third consecutive year. As always the Team will be on hand to demonstrate our wide product range, and answer any queries you may have.

21/05/2008 -

Echomaster Marine will be exhibiting the Seawork International Exhibition in Southampton from 10th to 12th June.

21/04/2008 -

The new Fisheries Research vessel Alba Na Mara was officially launched today in Fraserburgh by Mrs Moira Salmond.

We're on STAND C66 - Fishing 2008

18/02/2008 -

NEW this year will be the Hondex range of Echosounders, for which we have recently become the UK distributor. The Hondex series adds to Echomaster Marine's already strong Echosounder range. Come and visit Les and the team at Fishing 2008, 3rd to 5th April 2008.

07/05/2007 -

Macduff Shipyards Ltd are presently constructing a new 27 meter Fishery Research vessel for Fishery Research Services of Aberdeen. The vessel has been designed by Macduff Shipyards Ltd and the project is under the management of Macduff Ship Design Ltd.

30/03/2007 -

Echomaster Marine Ltd. will be exhibiting on Stand G16, at Fishing 2007 in Glasgow, between the 24th and 26th May 2007 and we would be delighted to see you there.

22/11/2006 -

Echomaster Marine Ltd. have today agreed a deal with i2e of France, to distribute the BEN Marine range of Electromagnetic Speed Logs in the UK.

17/05/2006 -

Simrad's next generation trawl Sonar, the FS70 will debut at Fishing 2006 on the Echomaster Marine stand (H40).

16/05/2006 -

The Simrad SP90 Sonar is now available with selectable beam width for improved range and resolution at both long and short distances.

02/01/2006 -

Simrad announces today the December 2005 appointment of Echomaster Marine as the UK sales & service company for its range of advanced hydroacoustic systems.