National Fisherman

Paul Molyneaux

Editor

Paul Molyneaux is the Boats & Gear editor for National Fisherman.

Author Archive

With a focus on quality and value, Sord Fishing Products has introduced a line of knives for a variety of fisheries. While priced higher than the knives commonly used in commercial fisheries, Sord knives come with a lifetime guarantee. Sord photo.

The sharper edge

The Lobster Trap Company’s plastic trap being field tested on the same trawl as a wire trap. According to research and reports from fishermen, plastic traps have been shown to fish as well as or better than wire. Photo courtesy of the Lobster Trap Company

Nova Scotia company aims to reinvent the lobster trap

The Aleta at the dock in Florence, Oregon. The 49-foot steel ketch was designed by Jack Serin and built near Ventura, California. Kate Price and Brandon Hiza bought the boat in 2022 as both a home and an albacore troller. Photo courtesy of Price/Hiza

F/V Aleta blends sail power with modern albacore fishing

Students at Lofoten Vocational School in Norway use Kongsberg Maritime's K-Sim Fishery simulator to train on fish finding, navigation, and trawl monitoring systems before stepping aboard a boat. Photo courtesy of Kongsberg

Training tomorrow's fishermen before they leave the dock

Fourth-year students like Jean-Pierre Joseph are close to joining the Maine lobster industry’s workforce. “The experienced kids like JP also help mentor the new kids,” says Wiley Muller. Photo courtesy of Lift All Boats

Finding crew made easier

The Jones Act requires that U.S.-built, crewed, and flagged vessels be used to transport cargo, including oil, between U.S. ports. Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy

Energy sovereignty for American fishermen

F/V Kimberly K, owned by Westbank Fisheries, is one of several commercial fishing vessels planning or completing repower projects with Mitsubishi engines supplied by Laborde Products. Photo courtesy of Westbank

Fishermen find value in Mitsubishi engines from Laborde Products

Maine lobsterman Frank Thompson holds the GPS unit that the Maine Department of Marine Resources requires him on his vessel so that it can be tracked 24/7. Thompson is taking the issue to the US Supreme Court. Photo courtesy of Frank Thompson

One lobsterman’s lawsuit going to the Supreme Court

The Tide-N-Knots rests on its mooring in Bailey’s Mistake, a semi-protected anchorage in Lubec, Maine. Built somewhere in Nova Scotia in 1979, the boat is typical of the rough old Novi workhorses found in Downeast Maine. Greg McConnell photo.

Boat of the month: Tide-N-Knots

Making a profit with a small boat means cutting costs where possible. Burning biofuel enabled Nick Wilbur to get to his fishing grounds and back for free. He found that his engine ran faster, smoother, and quieter on biofuel. Nick Wilbur photo.

One captain’s experiment with vegetable oil fuel