With this type of vessel, two beam trawls are towed from booms extending to each side and supported by a central mast. The booms are very strong, as they take the full weight of the trawl being towed. The mast supporting the booms may be located forward, in which case the wheelhouse is located aft as on a side trawler, or they may be amidships with the wheelhouse forward, as on a stern trawler. The former type is widely used for beam trawling in Europe, while the latter is the pattern of most shrimp trawlers. European-style beam trawlers are the most powerful fishing vessels of their size in the world.

Wet-fish trawlers

This type is distinguished by the way the catch is stored on board. It can be either a side or stern trawler with an insulated hold where the fish are stored “wet,” or fresh, after sorting. Ice used to cool the catch may be loaded at the start of the voyage or produced on board. This type of trawler normally operates on fishing trips lasting less than four days.

Freezer trawlers

On this type, constituting most large trawlers, the catch is preserved by freezing. On some vessels the catch is gutted and sorted before freezing, but processing is done mainly after the catch is landed.

Factory or processing trawlers

These are the largest type of fishing vessel. After catching and sorting, the fish is transferred to the processing deck, where it is processed and packaged. It is then frozen and stored in the hold. Many vessels have facilities for extracting oil and for making fish meal from waste products. Factory trawlers accommodate large crews and stay at sea for many weeks. They often support a fleet of smaller trawlers; when they load fish from other vessels rather than catching it themselves, they are called Klondykers.

Purse seiners

In purse seining, the fish shoal is surrounded by the net, which has a rope that seals the bottom of the net to trap the fish. Small fish may be pumped out of the net, or the net can be hauled on board and the fish released for sorting.

The North American purse seiner is generally laid out with a forward wheelhouse and aft working deck. A characteristic of this vessel is the powerful net block on the end of a long boom supported by the mast and a crow’s nest on the mast for spotting fish shoals.

European purse seiners are generally larger than their North American counterparts, being typically 30 metres in length. They have an aft wheelhouse and the net is hauled at the stern. The herring and mackerel caught by these vessels, needing sensitive handling and storage, are stored in tanks of chilled seawater built amidships in the hull. Thrusters (screws that provide sideways movement) are usually fitted to these vessels to give improved maneuverability when laying and hauling nets.

Tuna purse seiners are large vessels mainly designed for long-range fishing, although smaller types operate in the Mediterranean. They are similar in design to, but larger than, the North American purse seiner, and they have a sloping stern where a tuna skiff, used for laying the net, is stowed. Several smaller boats are also carried to help with handling the catch and removing unwanted or protected fish from the nets. In addition to a crow’s nest for spotting fish shoals, a light helicopter is sometimes carried on a helicopter deck above the forward wheelhouse. Modern tuna vessels store the catch in chilled seawater tanks.

Seine-netters

These vessels, like the European purse seiner, have the wheelhouse placed aft. Rather than purse seines, they employ nets similar to bottom trawls, which they set on long ropes and then haul in along the bottom like seine nets. Winches and reels on the forward deck haul and stow the ropes, while a power block aft hauls in the net.