National Fisherman

March Spotlight:

Gear and Apparel

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Boats & Gear

Canadian fishing company Clearwater is building a new 134-foot lobster boat at the Hvide Sande Shipyard in Denmark, and powering the vessel with a Wärtsilä 6L20 engine, which will run on marine diesel fuel. Wärtsilä photo.

Wärtsilä delivers a power-dense engine for Clearwater lobster boat

NF Staff

Bristol Bay sockeye boat — The 2020 Alaska salmon season was conducted under strict state safeguards for covid-19. Alaska Department of Fish and Game photo.

Ex-vessel value of 2025 Bristol Bay salmon harvest rated at $215.3 M

Margaret Bauman

Purse seine fishing in Alaska. Alaska Seafood photo.

The intricacy of a seine with Bulletproof Nets

Ben Hayden

Photo courtesy of Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association

Hybrid-electric offers fuel savings for Alaska’s longline fleet

Carli Stewart

The F/V Tangier Sound is the newest boat in Virginia's Ocean Harvesters fleet at Reedville, Va., built by Omega Shipyard Inc.. in Moss Point, Miss. Larry Chowning photo.

Larry_Chowning

Ocean Harvesters welcome new menhaden seiner

Larry Chowning

The closed cod end on the FloMo with its reduced flow allows fish to swim naturally rather than being exhausted and crushed in a standard cod end. Holes in the retention modules (extension) can be adjusted to allow bycatch to escape. FloMo photo.

The gentle net

Paul Molyneaux

Fire Suppression Industries began making the Suppressall FS2-Max fire suppression tool in 2025, after launching the FS2 in 2024. Company partner Joe Kuesis, fishing boats on all coasts are adding the FS2-Max to their firefighting toolkits. Suppressall pho

Fire in the hole

Paul Molyneaux

A Maine lobster boat is equipped with the Hondex HDX combination chartplotter/echosounder and the HE-7300 sounder. Hondex electronics are popular in small boat fisheries in the Northeast due to their simplicity, capabilities, and durability. Jason Philbro

No bells, no whistles

Paul Molyneaux

Sage Catherine Lane aground on the St. Marys Entrance north jetty. U.S. Coast Guard photo.

Overreliance on autopilot linked to multiple fishing vessel accidents

Eric Haun

The Hotspur was fortunate to have a handheld VHF for transmitting a distress call when it sank off Alaska in 2022. Most Marine Supply stores have a variety of handheld VHFs ready for fishermen to compare and buy. NTSB photo.

The handy VHF

Paul Molyneaux

F/V Guillemot owned by Christian LaMontagne. Photo by Carli Stewart

Maine fisherman looks ahead to clean energy options

Carli Stewart