Trawling

Trawling 

a method of catching fish using a sacklike fishnet called a trawl, which is towed through the water by a special ship called a trawler.

Trawling developed intensively in the second half of the 19th century, with the advent of steamships and their use in fishing. It is the leading method of commercial fishing (1976). In the USSR, trawling accounts for more than 70 percent of the catch. Trawling is done mainly at depths to 800 m using benthic and floating trawls towed by the same ship. Twin trawls—those towed by two ships—are used in some types of trawling.

The development of trawling is aimed mainly at an increase in the dimensions of trawls through the use of large-mesh nets and gear with excellent hydrodynamic characteristics, the design of general-purpose variable-depth trawls, and the introduction of electrified and lighted trawls and trawls for heavy bottoms and for catching fish at great depths (down to 2,000–2,500 m).

G. K. VOITOLOVSKII