Large BC Fishing Boat Orders WESMAR Sonar

MarineLink.com April 22, 2013

The newly remodeled trawler arrived in Port Alberni, B.C. in late March and was greeted enthusiastically by the community where she is expected to produce jobs plus attract other fishing boats to the Port. “We hope that once they relocate that others will look to move their boats here,” Pat Deakin, the city’s economic development officer said.

WESMAR (Western Marine Electronics) has announced an order for their powerful Model HD860 sonar for installation on 44-meter factory trawler FV Raw Spirit, the second largest fishing vessel in British Columbia.

Built in 1998 in Norway and refitted in Iceland, the FV Raw Spirit is billed as fuel-efficient by her owners, Andersen Seafoods Ltd., Fisher Bay Seafood Ltd, and Canadian Fishing Company. Her Captain, Kelly Andersen, has been working with factory boats for many years, making him the ideal person to take Raw Spirit into the Hake fishery.

The 931-gross-ton vessel underwent extensive work. The factory floor was gutted and remade to the specifications of the new owners. Other modifications include updates to her freezer and cold storage facilities.

To improve her fishing efficiency she will have a WESMAR Model HD860 sonar with 10-inch soundome. The WESMAR sonar solves the tough challenge of seeing fish close to the surface and close to the bottom. And with WESMAR’s signature “active stabilization” the beam stays on the fish even in rough seas.

WESMARS HD860 series sonar incorporates electronic beam stabilization technology developed and refined by WESMAR. A precision electronic gyro is mounted on the sonar transducer. The beam is constantly corrected for pitch and roll wherever the beam is scanning. Unlike other sonar that stabilize using sensors on the vessel, this technology provides instantaneous precision stabilization of the actual beam. With conventional stabilization, even slight movement of the beam can be significant at extreme ranges, possibly hundreds of feet up and down, which makes fish location difficult, except at close range. By limiting this bounce, the effective sonar range can be extended.

The system, is perfect for the finding the Pacific hake, pollock, and arrow-tooth flounder for which the vessel will fish on the western coast of B.C.

Fishing trips will vary between 10 and 13 days due to the vessel’s capacity of 327,000 kilograms of fish, and accommodations for a crew of 22.

www.wesmar.com