BASED at Den Oever, in the north of Holland, is Arjaan Willeboordse who is the long standing agent there for Danish-made Thybøron Trawl doors and for Danish trawl maker Flemming Ruby of Nordsø Trawl.

A complete set of gear delivered recently is a quad-rig set-up for the Den Oever trawler Marijke (WR-115), skippered by Cor Willeboordse, to fish for nephrops.

This is made up of four 130 ft. double bosom nets, all opened with a set of 96 in. Thybøron type 11s to give a 140 metre door spread.

“This is a 26 metre boat with 800 hp and, with this double bosom rig, they get more wing spread. We have also increased the mesh sizes in the top sheets to reduce water resistance and their fuel consumption has gone down from 95l/hr to 85l/hr.

“So, by going to a double bosom quad-rig like this, they are fishing more at the same time as they are burning less fuel.”

Other recent deliveries include single trawl set-ups for Endurance (A-945) and Quo Vadis (BCK-40), both of which were looking for high-lift gear to fish on non-quotas species in the English Channel through the winter.

Arjaan Willeboordse says: “These are hopper trawls and they are looking for squid, bass and red mullet.”

Many of the sets of gear Arjaan Willeboordse has supplied in recent years have been complete packages that just need to be spooled onto the drums, especially with the growing interest in twin and quad rig gear for nephrops in particular.

He explain: “If someone has a new set of gear on board, we ask them to report in and let us know how things are going after the first haul. That way we can compare with how the gear can be expected to perform and identify any problems as soon as possible.”

He stresses that maintaining contact with the skippers is a central part of his daily work.

“We want to know if the chains are polished, if the doors are standing right, what the spread is. Before they start fishing we give them all the information we can on what the gear should look like and what readings they can expect to see from their sensors.”

Arjaan Willeboordse tells FNI that Dynamit trawl simulation software is an invaluable tool that also allows them to show skippers simulations of how gear should look in the water.

“It is very useful. It allows us to see the tensions in every part of the gear and to make sure that the boat really will be able to tow the gear. It also lets us make changes to the design, showing the spread and lift of the net, and the skippers appreciate seeing these simulations.”

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More spread – less fuel