The way things are going is shown by the two new Norwegian seiners featured in this issue, Støttfjord and Trondskjær, designed from the keel up for efficiency. This is smart fishing...
There’s an almost curious blend of old and new going on here. Electric deck equipment is increasingly seen as the efficient and effective option, yet electric winches aren’t new – just new in their present incarnation. Diesel-electric propulsion also goes back a very long way – but it’s pretty new in fishing.
Some of us would bet folding money that before long there could be alternatives to diesel in fairly widespread use in some parts of the world, with either electric engine rooms or using alternative fuels to what we’re used to.
Be wary when you shake your head and say it’ll never work… There were plenty of people who thought that diesel would never replace good old-fashioned coal, or doubted that an engine could ever do better than a sail or oars.
The downsides of diesel also aren’t going to go away, and while diesel can be a remarkably clean fuel when handled right, there are emissions and diesel’s image is poor.
While the internal combustion engine has been streamlined and refined out of all resemblance to the engines of a generation or two ago and the emissions they spit out are as clean as they can be, there are drawbacks to it – not least the fact that a little turmoil on the other side of the world can push prices through the roof and leave fishing boats running at a loss – as we have seen not all that many years ago.
Having said all that, there’s no doubt that the diesel engine isn’t going to become obsolete any time soon. There’s no other fuel that has the combination of qualities that oil has; it’s compact and pumpable, its power generation is fantastic, and it’s affordable, for the moment. Nothing else comes close – yet. But it will. It’s just a question of when.
This month’s cover image of Strand Senior heading past Shetland for the blue whiting west of Ireland was taken by Ivan Reid.