Experimental trawling off New Zealand, 1900

A trawling expedition undertaken on behalf of the Government during the autumn and early winter months of 1900. The object of the expedition was to make an experimental survey of the coasts of the New Zealand, especially in the neighbourhood of the more thickly populated centres, to ascertain what extent of trawling-grounds existed, what varieties of marketable fish were obtainable in the different localities, to prove whether the conditions necessary for carrying on successful trawling existed in certain localities within workable distance of the best markets; and, if so, to place the information on record for the guidance of those interested in the trawling industry; and generally to acquire information on the distribution of food-fishes, etc., in the sea surrounding these Islands. To carry out the experimental trawling operations the Government chartered the steam-trawler "Doto" owned by B. A. Petersen and Co., of Napier. The "Doto" was originally built for a steam-yacht, but was subsequently bought by Captain Nielsen, for Messrs. Petersen and Co., in Sydney and taken over to Napier, where she was fitted out and used as a trawler. She is a composite vessel of 28 tons gross register, 66 ft. in length, 12 ft. beam, draught 6 ft. 6 in., and fifteen horse power nominal. The vessel was fitted with the otter-trawl, which while quite as effective can be much more easily and quickly put down and picked up than the beam trawl, and is therefore altogether better suited for the short tows required for experimental work.

Citation: Ayson L F, Mackay K (2025). Experimental trawling off New Zealand, 1900. Version 1.1. Southwestern Pacific Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) Node. Samplingevent dataset. https://nzobisipt.niwa.co.nz/resource?r=nz_experimental_trawl_1900&v=1.1

Published: July 08, 2025 at 21:28

License: To the extent possible under law, the publisher has waived all rights to these data and has dedicated them to the Public Domain (CC0 1.0)

URL: https://nzobisipt.niwa.co.nz/resource?r=nz_experimental_trawl_1900