What are Wellboats?

Wellboats can be best described as a unique kind of fishing and housing facility vessels. These types of boats provide invaluable assistance to the entire fisheries sector both in terms of commercial viability and the end-consumers’ satisfaction.

The concept of wellboats as fishing boats originates from a much focused purpose to provide qualitative fisheries. The traditional aquatic culture approach involved catching fishes and then resultantly preserving it to retain its usability. Alternatively, through these types of ships, the fishes are bred and taken care of till they can be dispatched to the appropriate centers of processing.

It is the latter aspect acts as the major driving force behind the immense success of the wellboat across the globe. Since the fishes literally thrive till the end stage of their processing, there is no threat of their contamination and other possible complications because of storing negligence.

Wellboat: Fact-file

• The designing and storing aspect of each fishing boat is unique and as such bears distinctive features singular to its own

• Though the storing capacity differs, an ideal boat can have storing capacity of about 1,400 cubic metres and can house up to 180 tonnes of fishes

• For transferring the fishes into the boat, huge pipelines are connected to the fishes’ breeding enclosures in the high seas.

These pipes transfer the fishes into the boat’s container area without disturbing the fishes in any manner whatsoever

Wellboat: Challenges

The biggest challenge while utilising these types of ships in the fisheries sector, is to ensure that the storing facilities are hygienic and the water in the containers in which the fishes are housed, are changed periodically. In other words, the users of the fishing vessel need to be prepared for a constant call on duty until the fishes are ready to be transferred to their centres of processing.

Just like any other aquarium, the water in which the fishes are housed need to be changed and the right temperature needs to be maintained throughout. But while fresh water is transferred into the housing container, many fishing vessels dump the older water – unclean and contaminated – into the sea or the ocean. This leads to pollution of the entire oceanic ecosystem and potential adverse effects for the aquatic lives contained within it.

As a mode to combat this challenge, wellboat innovators and pioneers have come up with various treatment facilities for the unclean water. Prior to being disposed off in the ocean, the unclean water will be processed and then disposed off in the oceans so as to prevent undue oceanic contamination.

Through these types of boats, a resurgence and renewal in the fisheries sector has been seen. Further technological developments have been planned while many have been brought to fruition in order to provide a wider platform for the wellboats’ functionality.

Fishing forms an economic mainstay for many communities and as such through planning needs to be carried out in order to prolong its viability and obliterate any possible chances of its degeneration.

Referenes

computescotland, scottishseafarms

Image Credits

computescotland, wellboat