Improvements in and relating to Tank Boats or Vessels for Transporting Live Fish or Marine Animals.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date claimed for Patent under Sect. 103 of Act.
being date of first Foreign Application (in 29th Mar 1905
Sweden);
Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 14th Oct., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 14th Oct., 1896-Accepted, 3rd Apr., 1897
Sweden);
Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 14th Oct., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 14th Oct., 1896-Accepted, 3rd Apr., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Tank Boats or Vessels for
Transporting Live Fish or Marine Animals.
We,
TRANSPORTAKTIEBOLAGET
FÖR LEFVANDE FISK, of Thurenäs,
Billeberga, Sweden, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to improvements in the construction of a 'tank boat or
vessel for the transport of fish and marine animals described in the Specification to
Patent No. 8051 The improvements relate to means whereby the fish can be
introduced into the fish tank without being taken out of the water.
:
In transporting such sensitive goods as living fish are, it is necessary that the
treatment shall be a very careful and appropriate one from the beginning.
Any neglect in this direction causes difficulties that cannot be overcome by a
subsequent careful treatment. Even when a damaged fish is brought living on the
market, the fish is in bad condition and therefore hurtful to health as food and of
unpleasant flavour. The damaging of the fish can occur already when catching the
same for example in the drag or trawl net fishing in the North Sea, where the net
is wound right up the mast for bringing the fish on board, or the fish are raised by
elevators out of the water or are thrown on board in order afterwards 'to be placed
in the tanks.
Under these conditions the fish are always subject to blows and pressure, and are
raised up out of the water and this is also the case when the fish are brought in by
means of hand nets; thus disease and death of the fish are unavoidably caused.
The present invention has for its object to obviate these defects which almost
entirely prevent the transport of live fish.
According to this invention the same tanks or receptacles that serve to transport
the fish, are made to communicate directly with the rear end of a trawl net drawn
through the water, such communication being by means either of the inlet tube
described in the said patent, or by a tube or channel corresponding to this, which
opens into the bows of the boat or in the bows of a special basin, or is arranged
parallel to the direction of travel.
The fish can then pass directly into the transport tank without making a
circuitous passage and without being raised out of the water. By causing the drag
or trawl net, together with the boat containing the tank to be always propelled
forward while the fish contained within the net are not brought in contact with
the forward moving parts, the fish are caused of themselves to swim into the
transport tank..

page_text: In those cases where the transport tank is situated entirely in the bows of the
vessel, the connection is effected by means of openings corresponding to the
tube s³.
The rear open net end can be drawn through the inlet, and can reach into the
middle of the tank compartment, where it is suitably attached. The point or end
then constitutes the small opening of a bow net which the fish in swimming forward
cannot find. The inlet tubes can also be arranged in an analogous manner.
The parts of the tank can be made to communicate with each other by means of
special closeable openings, so that the fish in swimming can distribute themselves
throughout the whole tank. The net can also be drawn through the inlet opening
in such manner that the rear opening of the net will open into each compartment
of the tank, so that each compartment can be filled by itself.
The construction of the uet as also the depth at which it operates, is immaterial
for the purposes of the invention. For the deep sea fish special tanks can be
arranged, having separate watertight compartments containing air and suitably
loaded for following every desired depth.
By special extension the point of the net can extend diagonally from the bottom
of the sea, to the connection with the fish tanks, in the case when the net is at the
bottom and the fish tank is on the surface (the transport vessel being also towed
by the net tug boat) in this case the length of the net point can for example be
twice as great as the depth of the water, the point of the net can have suitable
position imparted to it by arranging smaller ropes to pass from the tug boat over
the tow bridge to the net extension at suitable distances apart which ropes are
adjustable from the tng when the depth of water varies. The described arrange-
ment can also be employed in connection with any receptacle in the water containing
fish besides nets for loading the transport tank.
The above described improved construction is shown diagrammatically on the
accompanying drawing which indicates the arrangement of a net which is dragged
in the water by two boats which steer such a course as to always be a suitable
distance apart so as to keep the net open in front while towing the transport
vessel and the net. Figure is a longitudinal section and Figure II is a plan."
The tug boats tow the transport vessel by means of the towing ropes a the net
being suitably attached so as to be kept open.
The drawing shows the compartment A similar to that in Specification 8051"
also the self acting valve m in the centre partition e but transposed to the bottom;
a single inlet passage is provided at the water level and the outlet passage n is
horizontal. Both the inlet passages and the outlet passage n are, as seen in
plan, built in line with the so called raised box structure d. In the partitions ce
and e are provided the openings ko and k¹ which can be closed by means of caps,
when the vessel has been loaded; the opening in e' is provided with lattice work
to prevent the fishes from coming out. The flow of the water when the vessel is
moving is according to the direction of the arrows in the lower part of the compart-
ment A after the water has entered through the perforated cap in the rear part of
the passage 3 passing out by the aft outlet n.
As shewn on the drawing the towing ropes fastened to the tug boats and to the
transport vessel, and also the net z which drags by the said ropes are fixed in
some suitable manner over the mouth of the passages which as well as the
openings and o are all without their caps, the passage is also prolonged aft
into a conically diminishing netting end ¹ which is stretched and fixed towards the
rear in all directions.
Through the connection which the passage forms between the net and the
compartment A the fishes will during the forward towing swim directly into the
said compartment and arrive there quite unhurt and without being able to get
out again.
The direction of the flow of the water, viz., in a straight line into the vessel
through the openings k k and o along the so called box shaped structure d, as long
as the loading continues, enables the fishes, by swimming down to the bottom of

page_text: the compartments, to escape the sometimes hurtful pressure, and the valve at m
may be throttled to check or stop at times the flow of the water.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In the vessel for transport of fish described in the Specification to Patent
No. 8051 of 1892, the arrangement of a direct communication between the
transport fish tank through the forward projecting inlet tubes, channels or openings,
(S in the drawing of Patent No. 8051 of 1892) of the tank, of suitable form and
size and a drag or trawl net drawn through the water, or any other receptacle
containing living fish, in such manner that the fish are made to swim directly into
the transport tank through the said communication, substantially as described.
2. In a tank arranged as set forth in the first claim arranging the inlet tubes or
the rear part of the net contained therein to terminate only at about the middle of
the tank compartment, so as to prevent the fishes from swimming out again,
substantially as described.
1000
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicants.