Super Trawlers

Update: The Dutch super-trawler Margiris is due to arrive in the South Australian town of Port Lincoln today to spend five days preparing for it’s new role fishing the Southern Ocean.

The north-east coast of Scotland is a string of beautiful villages which for centuries have relied on North Sea fishing from small boats operated by generations of the same families.

The town of Peterhead, the most easterly point of that coastline, has streets named after whaling captains. Some of the grander older houses were built by trawler owners. Fishing families grew up in tiny homes across the street from the boat berths.

Many harbourside homes and those in streets leading to the wharves have cramped rooms for the residents along with large spacious lofts where the nets once were hung to dry. And there are still lively ambitions to own a boat, hire a crew and exist off the sea. Those ambitions are being battered by huge fishing vessels which look more like tankers and warships than trawlers.

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