Technical assessment of shrimp trawler vessels in the Colombian Caribbean: recommendations for improving fleet efficiency

Abstract

From a critical analysis of the current technological configuration of boats and fishing equipment for the industrial fleet  of  shrimp  trawl  fishing  in  the  Caribbean  Sea  of  Colombia,  we  investigated  the  viability  of  introducing technological changes that would have a positive impact on efficiency of the fleet, currently embroiled in a situation of economic restraint due to the high operating costs. The results indicate that the transmission ratios are poorly designed, and an ideal performance is achieved by reducing the number of teeth of the driven sprocket. There is also an oversizing in the power and dimensions of the vessel, regarding the size of the fishing equipment currently used. The alternative would be to design fishing gears adjusted to the installed power, built with resistant and lightweight materials that reduce fuel consumption and the impact on by-catch.