Otter Trawls
Otter trawls are used to catch cod, haddock, flounder, and other bottom fish. The otter trawl is large, cone-shaped net that is towed behind the fishing boat along or just over the bottom. The mouth of the net is fitted with floats at the top and weight at the bottom that serve to keep it open vertically.
Attached to the towing lines, near each side of the mouth of the net, are “doors” or large rectangular wooden frame that keep the mouth of the net open in the horizontal direction. The far end of the otter trawl has a mesh small enough to retain fish of edible size but large enough to allow very small fish to escape.
After the net has been towed for some time, it is pulled up to the boat and the “cod end” is tied off with a strap. This portion of the net is then hoisted out of the water to a position over the deck, and the bottom end is opened by a line attached to a special closing mechanism which allows the fish to fall onto the deck of the boat.
Otter Trawls
