Helicopter – Tuna Fishing by Helicopter

Whats that helicopter doing there you might ask?

Using the Seine fishing method this is how they go about fishing for Tuna.

A vessel such as the Capt M J SOUZA is known as a is purse seiner, or in her specific case a super seiner.

According to info on Talleys Fisheries fleet site;

The Capt. M.J. Souza is based in the Western and Central Pacific for most of the year. During the summer months the vessel fishes back in NZ around the top of the North Island for Skip Jack Tuna. Trip lengths can vary from 20 to 70 days depending on the fishing.

Actually the spotting job is shared between this machine and the guy up in the spotting tower.

Once a school of Tuna is spotted its all hands on deck as they use a high speed large dingy to tow the net out and encircle the fish.

That’s the net you can see on the back of the boat.