Captain Brad Watkins has had more than a year to reflect on the performance of his new vessel, the Atlantic Charger and he really likes what he has seen to date. In mid-July, 2013, the Atlantic Charger was launched — a versatile 68.5-foot multi-species vessel, designed by TriNav Marine Design and built by Val Cull of Northern Boat Building and Repair in Port Saunders.
The Atlantic Charger has a bulbous bow, a nozzle, fuel efficiency components and the first autopilot system of its kind to be featured on a Newfoundland and Labrador fishing boat. There is NMEA 2000 gear onboard that hasn’t been used in the province yet and RSW, large fuel-capacity tanks, that fall under the new Transport Canada regulations and are a first for the way they are built. The ship has the first electronic twin disc transmission in the province and has twin trawling capabilities. It features design sensors from Notus that are new to the industry, as well.
The Cottlesville-based captain said the vessel is living up to and in many cases surpassing his expectations. “I want to give a thumbs up to TriNav and Val Cull for the design of the boat and the way it was put together. The boat is doing exactly what it was designed to do.”
Watkins made the long steam in July and August to the 0B area off western Greenland this year fishing turbot and said the boat’s fuel efficiency and performance was great.
The ability to fish faster and more efficiently was part of Watkins’ mantra for building the Atlantic Charger.
“In order to keep the boat on the water longer, to get more employment for my crew, I had to have a boat that could catch any species. This goes hand-in-hand with the twin trawls — the speed at which I can catch shrimp. Because I can catch my shrimp in half the time that I could before, it opened the door to the 0B (fishing area) turbot fishery. I can now insert an 0B turbot fishery in the middle of my crab and shrimp seasons… it gives me an open timeline to do another species,” Watkins explained. This new turbot fishery meant an additional $500,000 in revenue for Watkins’ enterprise.
He said there were a lot of naysayers and skeptics that chimed in during the building of the Atlantic Charger, but he has proven them wrong.
“A lot of people thought I was cracked, buying a new vessel at this point in the fishery. They were not seeing my vision and that the twin trawls were not going to work and it was all a waste of money. But right now with the way I am fishing, when I hit the grounds with the other boats and I am finished up two days ahead of them, with a bigger catch aboard, there are a lot of people hauling back their horns.”
Watkins noted that his enterprise is not the only thing benefitting from the added capabilities of the Atlantic Charger, his crew has had a great year as well.
“My crew does not need the unemployment system. None of them have drawn an unemployment cheque since we launched that boat in the spring. That’s huge. That speaks volumes for the industry and where the fishery could be. We don’t need to be on unemployment if they (DFO) let us stretch our wings and legs.”
The 42-year-old skipper would like to see his new state-of-the-art vessel on the water fishing 12 months of the year, but admits a lot has to change before that will happen.
“We need to get some rules changed with DFO and licensing quotas is very difficult because there are too many restrictions involved. There should be no reason why this vessel cannot move around the eastern coast of Canada and fish Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec in the winter and the south coast here. DFO has to realize that we can make a stronger industry and create more employment if they would change the rules and restrictions.”
Watkins is also looking ahead to the return of a viable cod fishery, but added that things are going to have to change from the groundfish practices of the past, adding that fish are going to have to be caught in a sustainable manner that is dictated by the markets.
