The Fisheries Research and Education Agency, the Miyazaki Prefectural Fisheries Experimental Station, the Kagoshima Prefectural Fisheries Technology Development Center and NICHIMO CO.,LTD. have launched a joint research project aimed at field trials and wider adoption of kite trawling using kite fishing gear as an alternative to beam trawling in small bottom-trawl fisheries.
The Fisheries Research and Education Agency, the Miyazaki Prefectural Fisheries Experimental Station, the Kagoshima Prefectural Fisheries Technology Development Center and NICHIMO CO.,LTD. have launched a joint research project to promote the use of kite trawling with kite fishing gear in small-vessel bottom-trawl fisheries. Compared with conventional beam trawling, kite fishing gear has a flexible structure and is considered to have the potential to reduce labor requirements and improve safety.
The study will use bottom-trawling vessels in Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures to collect tow-test data for conventional beam trawling and kite trawling, identify regulatory and technical issues, and organize potential improvements and implementation benefits. Through full-scale field trials, the project will clarify the basis for practical implementation and, with a view to expanding adoption of the fishing gear, will also consider shifting from two-boat trawling to one-boat trawling.