Wheel House Location

Am just toying around with the idea of entering commercial fishing in NSW Australia and am trying to work out the sort of boat required for line and trap fishing.

Something 10m or less to allow access to estuary fisheries - blue crab and mud crab as well as offshore - spanner crabs and snapper. All of which have different size traps. So it would need to have a work area large enough to stack say 100 traps. Enough room for ice tanks, fish tanks and bait tanks.

Essentially it is boiling down to a near coastal type of vessel that would essentially be an ocean going flattop truck. Something like the "Bruce Roberts euro 1000" or the "Bruce Roberts Coast Worker 30" .

What I am trying to work out is Wheelhouse location. In design terms is there any reason - this thing would need to operate under 3C survey - why boat wheel houses are where they are - apart from ride comfort.

Is the any legal or design reason wheelhouses could not be bought as far forward as possible? It be pitch around at that position a lot more than amidships - yes, but would open up deck space - like a flat bed truck.

 

What size and configuration boats are currently used in the fisheries you are interested in? Have you talked to anyone with experience in those fisheries about how well those boats work for them?

Many smaller UK commercial fishing boats used for day fishing have the wheelhouse far forward. With the wheelhouse in the bow there typically is not enclosed space for a galley, berths, clothing storage, etc.

The size, construction and configuration of boats used for commercial fishing generally are due to four factors:
- regulations
- functional needs and preferences
- tradition, history and experience
- economics and availability

Some fisheries have a wide variety of boats. An example is the Alaska crab fisheries; most appear to have the house aft but some have the house forward. http://www.alaskaberingseacrabbers.org/find_a_boat_treachery.php

Other fisheries use a more "standard" boat. An example is the Maine lobster fishery. The configuration and appearance of almost all the boats is very similar except to someone knowledgeable about the boats. But many of the lobsterman have strong preferences about the right sort of boat for them.

 

Currently a lot of people use 7 or 8 meter surf cats. Big power boats basically.

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/inverloch/motorboats-powerboats/aluminium-commercial-fishing-charter-boat/1100560175

http://www.boatsales.com.au/boats-for-sale/private/used/SSE-AD-2710848/2005-COMMERCIAL-FISHING

Warm weather and waters in Northern NSW so no need for nice cosy warm below deck space like the North Sea. Its also coastal work pretty much up to the continental shelf - about 14nm so no long hauls.

The issue is the economics. Working for one target species is getting hard to make money with the smaller boats and I am trying to work whether there is a way pass the bureaucrats by buying quota for two types of catch at nearby location and dropping nets for say both spanner crab and snapper so that while one is soaking for a few hours you are processing the other.

Lets say 30 traps for snapper each 1m x 1m x 1m even if stacked inside each other take up a certain amount of space perhaps 3 sq m minimum and then add in say 30 spanner crab nets - big flat round things of a bit under a meter each (the net not the crab) and you have just too much to fit in a 7 meter sport fisherman. So lets say 6 sq meters gone just on the nets. Add in line and floats etc etc and its starting to get a bit squeezy on a 7m boat with about 4m of usable deck behind the cab.

You can go for a bigger boat but that cuts out the possibility of estuary fishing which is limited to 10m or less. You can add crew - but then you need to bring in even more fish to cover wages and you are soon into a situation where you would be better off with a full blown crewed trawler or tuna long liner which is soon approaching million dollar territory.