Overspreading Since the Seventies
NOAA Fisheries has been overspreading their nets since they changed from a side trawler to stern trawler back in the 1970s!
On the Delaware side trawler, the wires were put together on the side of the boat and on NOAA’s Stern Trawler Bigelow, the wires are off the stern of the boat which is 32 feet apart. This is causing NOAA’s over-spread nets. Now NOAA has been working with a restrictor-rope on the doors, to stop the doors from over spreading the nets.
So I did a little research on the restrictive rope and found out it was done 30 years ago in Norway and no way it worked a little in the shoal water, but the deep water wouldn’t work because the doors were not able to spread the net properly. This problem of NOAA’s overspreading nets can be easily fixed by instead of restricting the spread of the doors, control the spread of the main wires on the vessel, by putting the main wires together. you will get less, the more distance the between the main wires will give more spread to your doors & net.
I believe by controlling the spread between the main wires and by the amount of wire out that you can achieve a near perfect spread at all times!! How can NOAA achieve this just by putting hydraulic pulleys on the Galises and pull your main wires towards each other???? NOAA may have a better way to achieve this task, SO AFTER 50 YEARS OF OVER SPREADING GETS FIXED AND NO CHANGES ARE MADE TO GEARS & IT WILL BE THE SAME GEAR USED IN BEGINING OF NOAAS RESEARCH SURVEYS Rocky Novello
What you do at the boat does not matter. It is adjustment of the doors. But they don’t care, best if they do poor so, there it is. Stupid as always.