After putting its efforts into developing their Flipper door that has been shown to meet the needs of the demersal and small pelagic sector, Danish manufacturer Thyborøn Trawldoor switched its attention to the development of its Type 22 VK Bluestream doors that were launched last year, and which range in size from 0.50 up to 20 square metres – or larger if required.
The company’s own description of this door as “one of the most efficient and all-around high aspect pelagic trawl doors in the world” is an understatement of this product’s capabilities, according to Arnold McCullough, owner of Northern Irish 86m pelagic trawler Voyager.
“We work single trawl fisheries all the time but due to the huge seasonal and physical variances regarding target species, size of trawl and depths of waters we’re fishing in, the Type22 Bluestream has been a Godsend for us – one slight adjustment to one of the flaps or slightly moving the towing point on the door and we’re ready to change our net or depth of fishing immediately,” he explained.
“More spread and less resistance are the key factors of these doors,” he said, adding that the Type 22 Bluestreams give greater spreading power for less fuel.
“This door gives maximum and most efficient spread in whatever setting you alter it for. We can be towing one day with a small net in 40 fathom of water and the next day with a large 1800m in the circle trawl in 120 fathoms – using the same set of doors that we have just made some minor adjustments to,” he said.
In the Danish sandeel fishery, pelagic trawler Beinur operates using 14m2 Type22 Bluestream doors with great results – both in catching performance and in fuel efficiency.
“Due to these Type22 doors being 15% less resistant than previous door designs, when towing with these doors we save between 100 to 200 litres of fuel per hour,” said Beinur’s skipper Gunnar Nolsoe.
As well as being in use on large fishing vessels such as Voyager and Beinur, Bluestream doors are meeting the needs of smaller trawlers, such as the 16 metre Hirtshals trawler Milton, which uses a 4m2 pair.
Skipper and owner Jan Woller reports that he has been able to tow very satisfactorily with his pair of Type 22 doors while fishing for sandeel.
“The Type22’s ability to give more spread and stability on 20% less wire and for less burned fuel, which is amazing,” he said.
“In these times with the trend for energy savings, the impact of Thyboron’s Type 22 Bluestream, in combination with Dyneema warps, is clearly noticeable and, during the stages of both set-up and towing, we have had a great deal of guidance from Jan at Thyboron Trawldoors,” he said, adding that Milton’s upgrade from the old Thyboron Type 2 to the Type22 Bluestream has definitely been worthwhile.
Thyborøn Trawldoors’ Type 22 Bluestream doors were launched in early 2017 following a long period of testing on board Dutch factory trawler Frank Bonefaas. The doors can be supplied with or without flaps in the backfoils which can be opened to alter the roll angle and to reduce spreading force by as much as 30%, making them suitable for adjustment to be used with more than one trawl type. This capacity for adjustment makes the Bluestream doors highly versatile for use across different fisheries and depths.
Danish pelagic vessels Gitte Henning and Beinur are each using 14m2 Bluestream doors,, while Milton has a 4m2 pair, while new Swedish trawler Clipperton, delivered earlier this year, and Voyager both have a 16m2 pairs. The new Serene for Shetland has a 14m2 pair, and US trawlers America’s Finest and Northern Jaeger also opted for 14m2 pairs of Bluestream doors.
In the Netherlands Frank Bonefaas has 12m2 Bluestreams and Annelies Ilena has a 14m2 pair. Deliveries to Norwegian pelagic vessels include a 12m2 pair to a Nordsjøbas and a 14m2 to Havskjer.
