Small-scale trawl fishing is an important industry that provides a diverse variety of marine products for Japan. In recent years, however, it has been affected by factors such as worsening fishery resources, a downturn in fish prices, and an upturn in fuel costs. As a result, the financial situation has become difficult. Additionally, people engaged in this fishery are becoming older, and its continuation is threatened. Therefore, we conducted a study of possibilities for saving labor and energy in small-scale trawl fishing（beam trawling), with the aim of stabilizing the management of fishery households. We created prototype fishing gear that is lighter than conventional fishing gear by reducing the weight of various components, in order to make low-speed trawling possible. We then carried out a comparative study of the conventional and lightweight fishing gear in terms of the characteristics of onboard work, and fuel consumption. We found that the lightweight fishing gear could be used with existing equipment, without interfering with onboard work, and that reducing the weight of the components reduced the physical burden on the operators（Ovako Working Posture Analysis System（OWAS）method). Additionally, the lightweight fishing gear made it possible to reduce the trawling speed to 2.2 knots, and the fuel required to produce a catch equivalent to that with conventional fishing gear was reduced by approximately 30%, meaning that the lightweight fishing gear can be expected to contribute to energy saving.
Fishing technology
Small-scale trawl fishery
Beam trawling
Energy saving
Labor saving
Lightweight fishing gear