Increasing fuel costs, decreasing fish prices and changing fisheries resources are causing many fishing practices to become uneconomic. Therefore, the application and dissemination of new fishing technologies to fishing sites is necessary to save fuel and reduce costs. However, such fishing technologies must reduce costs without affecting fish catch or quality, even when widely used. The present study examines fishing gear technologies and methods for cost and fuel reduction in bottom trawling. One such method is the lowering of towing speed to reduce the effects of drag on the trawl, thereby conserving fuel. An example of this fuel conservation through lowered towing speed in Alaskan bottom trawlers is discussed, along with other examples of cost-saving fishing technologies and fishing practices in small-scale Japanese bottom trawlers.
