Catching Mullet By Helicopter

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31151, 30 August 1966, Page 3

Catching Mullet By Helicopter

“The Press” Special Service

AUCKLAND, August 29.

Marine Helicopters, Ltd., will begin an extensive fishing programme for mullet in the Manukau Harbour in November, using an amphibious helicopter to lay 1000-yard-long nets.

The company, which began testing the revolutionary form of fishing with a £15,000 Hughes 300 helicopter early this year, hopes the mullet netting will reach a commercial scale. The operations manager of the company, Mr B. C. Barrow, who is also a director, said there was no fundamental reason why the venture should fail.

The company, however, was handicapped to some extent by a lack of capital for experimental purposes. Mr Barrow said it was planned that the helicopter, which is based at Ardmore and is being used part-time for aerial spray work, would drop the nets before lowering an aluminium dory to the water.

Two men working from the dory’ would retrieve the fish and place them in 4ft-wide buoyed nets. The helicopter would return, pick up these

nets and deliver them straight to trucks on shore. The catch would be delivered to a canning factory.

The total flying time involved would be about 15 minutes, he said. During recent trials, the helicopter had landed all kinds of fish from snapper to two 9ft sharks without difficulty. The trials had shown that netting techniques had been established but there was still a lot to be done in solving the problems of long-line work. Lanes up to three-quarters of a mile long had been laid by the helicopter off Muriwai beach in a recent tria(. When they were recovered 16 out of 100 hooks on one line held snapper.

Although this result was not outstanding, said Mr Barrow, a similar result during fullscale work would be satisfactory.

The next experiments would involve a pulley device, run out from the shore by the helicopter, and a couple of miles of nylon line fitted with hooks. When the line was laid out around the pulley, winches would see-saw it back and forth to prevent the fish struggling free.

Mr Barrow said the company intended placing between 500 and 600 hooks on each of these lines for fishing during the summer.