G'day REG,

In the western Pacific, most tuna seiners have helidecks and a large proportion of them carry helicopters, mainly Hughes 500 type machines (5seaters). We also had no interest in dolphins. In our part of the world, they do not hang out together, in fact if we found a large pod of dolphins it generally meant that there were no tuna in the area (different scenario in other fisheries I believe). We actually searched for birds feeding, as they were a sign that bait fish were about and hence tuna (maybe. . . . ).

Cheers,
tropic

Some of these "tuna clippers" used to include a tiny flight deck built on top of the bridge from which they operated a little one-man helicopter to assist in spotting the tuna. Actually, it isn't the tuna the spotters look for, it's porpoises. Both porpoises and tuna are large marine predators and both hunt the same prey. It frequently happens that, when one spots porpoises schooling on the surface, tuna are found schooling beneath them.

Thanks for your comments and info, tropic!

Rgds

Vlad

And nice pic too Vlad, takes me back. . . .

Thanks for that Kyle. Campbell were the other big builders of tuna boats, were they out of Seattle ? I reckon this is a licenced Campbell boat, they had their engines aft, the Martinac boats midships.

Pity about Martinac, I did a couple of trips on one of their boats and they certainly were well built (25+ years old at the time). Unfortunately the current builds out of Asian yards are not quite of the same quality, and will probably be lucky to see out 15-20yrs. I guess you get what you pay for. . . .

Cheers,
tropic

Tropic,
Right state, wrong city. J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding in Tacoma was actually the yard responsible for a significant chunk of tuna clippers for many years. The yard just declared bankruptcy earlier this year after 89 years in operation.
Kind Regards,
Kyle

I grew up with these in San Diego before the fleet moved to the South Pacific. Very odd not to see one with a helicopter. She seems a deck low too.

Yep, a brand new purse seiner, but a 30+ year old design. The original boats were from a yard in Seattle I believe, but was licenced to the Koreans a few years ago.

Helicopters are used extensively, drone technology not up to it yet, sometimes we were up to 60nm from the boat on a search ! And the amenities on any of the boats I was on were pretty ordinary actually. The heli pilot/engineer had reasonable digs, but the Asian crews had much more basic facilities.

Don't think that this one has a helicopter, too much junk on the helideck. . . .

Cheers,
tropic

Now that you've mentioned helicopters, Kyle, I would expect that drones would be used more and more for the same purpose...

Rgds

Vlad

While they often look modern, the designs of tuna clippers like this vessel really haven't changed much over the last 30 years. The hull shape allows the vessels to keep up with the fast schools of tuna. In conjunction, the crow's nest aids in spotting the schools, some clippers even carry a helicopter to provide additional eyes. Since there is a lot of money in tuna fishing, no expense is spared on these boats, and many have very yacht-like amenities for the crew.
Kind Regards,
Kyle

Thanks for the clarification, Denis.

Rgds

Vlad

Tuna purse seiner.

Thanks, Trygve. She does look like she's a specialized tuna fishing boat.

Rgds

Vlad

Nice picture. Seems to be a very modern fishing vessel. Built for spesial type of fishing?? Is this for tuna fishing?

Thanks! She has almost a yacht-like hull coating, while that "crow's nest" reminds me of WW1 battleships...

Rgds

Vlad

Nice!