Electronic Aids To Fishing

What's New In Industry

A major break-through in local fishing techniques is taking place with the J. Wattie Canneries vessel Kaiti which is equipped to the hilt with electronic aids for catching more fish in less time.

Equipped with purse-seine netting gear and a jet-powered dory, the Kaiti is tapping a virtually untouched section of the ocean in that it nets on the surface instead of the bottom like conventional trawlers.

This surface fishing has opened the way to new and improved techniques, and here the use of electronic equipment is proving in-valuable.

A V.H.F. radio-telephone keeps the vessel in constant touch with the Aero Club's spotter plane, and saves countless hours of steaming looking for shoals. Another new item is an extended bastic echo sounder which is lowered through the hull to send signals horizontally around the ocean just beneath the surface. An automatic pilot will keep the vessel on a set compass course, and ship to shore radio maintains communications with the land.

More recently the Gisborne firm of Supreme Electronics fitted a Decca navigational radar unit, and this, with its familiar rotating scanner, enables the boat to manoeuvre in poor visibility.