Commercial Fishing Vessels Designed to Operate at Night

Commercial fishing vessels support coastal communities worldwide. Visit any harbor and you'll see the variety - from small fishing boats to massive vessels, each designed for specific fishing methods and waters. Fishing at night has become standard practice across the industry, with advanced navigation systems and other technology allowing crews to work safely and effectively long after sunset. 

In this blog, we’ll discuss the types of commercial fishing vessels that operate at night and how night vision technology helps them out.

Types of Commercial Fishing Vessels

Trawlers

Trawlers use large cone-shaped nets, either bottom trawls dragged along the seafloor or midwater trawls towed through the water column, depending on their target catch. Stern trawlers deploy nets from the stern (back) of a boat, while side or beam trawlers deploy nets over the side.

Trawlers typically work in shallow coastal waters and deep offshore grounds and are known for handling substantial amounts of fish each haul.

Key Features:

• High-capacity hulls and expansive decks for large catches

• Heavy-duty hydraulic winches to manage loaded nets

• Open workspaces at the stern or alongside for net shooting and hauling

• Built-in sorting conveyors, ice systems, or basic processing stations on larger vessels

What They Catch:

• Groundfish such as cod, haddock, flounder, and pollock

• Shellfish like pink shrimp, white shrimp, and prawns (region dependent)

• Mixed demersal species, often sorted by size and market value

Do Trawlers Operate at Night?

Trawlers often run round-the-clock schedules to increase catch volume and take advantage of fish behaviors. Working at night complicates net monitoring, tow-path navigation, and deck safety when visibility is low. Crews rely on minimal floodlighting or thermal cameras, but these can disturb fish and consume power. 

Seiners

Seiners surround schools of fish with nets that close at the bottom to trap the catch. There are several seine types—purse seiners that draw a net shut like a purse, beach seiners that haul a straight net back to shore, Danish or Scandinavian seiners combining extended seines and purse techniques, lampara seiners with U-shaped nets, and ring seiners that encircle and close around smaller schools. Each seiner targets specific fisheries and water conditions, but all share the core method of surrounding a school before hauling it aboard.

Key Features

• Power block or hydraulic hauler for net retrieval

• Support a skiff or a dinghy to set nets around schools

• Refrigerated holds or insulated bins to preserve the catch

• Sonar and radar systems to locate and track schools

Common Catch

• Pelagic species such as tuna, mackerel, and herring

• Surface schooling fish like sardines and anchovies

• Coastal flatfish and shrimp (with beach or lampara systems)

• Seasonal or regional targets, depending on vessel type and location

Do Seiners Operate at Night?

Yes. Many seiner operations begin at dawn, extend through darkness, or focus on low-light periods when fish schools surface or gather around attractant lights. Nighttime work adds complexity—spotting schools, guiding the net-setting skiff, and monitoring haulback all happen with limited visibility.

Longliners

Longliners deploy a mainline that can stretch for miles, with hundreds to thousands of baited hooks attached via branch lines (snoods) to target species that swim at or near the surface, midwater, or bottom. Vessels lay out the line from the stern or alongside, drifting or moving slowly to cover large swaths. After soaking the gear, the crew hauls the line back aboard, removes the catch, and resets for the next set.

Key Features

• Extensive mainline reels and branch-line deployment systems

• Reel-mounted or deck-mounted line haulers to retrieve soaked gear

• Baiting stations and hook boards for rapid rebaiting

• Freezers or chilled holds for high-value catch

Common Catch

• Tuna species (yellowfin, albacore, bigeye)

• Swordfish and other billfish (sailfish, marlin)

• Groundfish such as halibut, cod, and lingcod (with bottom sets)

• Pelagic species like mahi-mahi and wahoo in suitable regions

Do Longliners Operate at Night?
Yes. Longline operations often continue through the night to optimize catch rates, especially for species like swordfish that feed at depth during darkness. Working in low light complicates hook setting and gear retrieval, and the crew must monitor branch-line deployment, watch for line tension changes indicating a bite, and handle catch on slippery decks. Traditional deck lighting and sonar support these tasks, but nighttime longlining still presents challenges in visibility and safety until crews can leverage advanced low-light tools.

Gillnetters

Gillnetters deploy vertical nets that hang in the water column, capturing fish by entangling them as they swim into mesh openings. Gillnetters can be further categorized into set gillnetters that anchor their nets in fixed positions and drift gillnetters that allow their nets to move freely with the current while remaining connected to the vessel. Crews set nets either drifting with currents or anchored in fixed positions, marking each end with buoys. When fish school into the nets, the crew haul them aboard, disentangle the catch, and reset for the next set.

Key Features

• Net drums and rollers for smooth deployment and retrieval

• Buoy and float-line systems to maintain vertical net position

• Sonar or acoustic tools to detect fish approaching the nets

• Onboard holds with ice or refrigeration for preserving catch

Common Catch

• Salmon (various species, depending on region)

• Herring and sardines

• Cod and pollock

• Walleye, hake, and other demersal species

Do Gillnetters Operate at Night?
Many gillnetters work at night when target species move into shallower waters or school more densely near the surface. Night operations add complexity: crews must watch for net entanglements and monitor catch buildup with limited visibility. Deck lighting and sonar help track gear position and fish activity, but darkness increases the risk of snagging nets, entangling non-target species, and causing slip or trip hazards on deck. Careful coordination and reliable equipment remain essential until specialized low-light tools become standard.

Tenders

Tenders serve as support vessels for commercial fishing fleets, transporting catch, supplies, and crew between fishing vessels and shore. They often rendezvous with fishing boats at sea to receive freshly caught fish, carry ice and bait, deliver fuel, and provide basic maintenance or emergency assistance. By offloading catch to tenders, fishing vessels can remain on station longer and maximize time spent harvesting.

Key Features

• Large refrigerated holds to preserve fish quality during transport

• Crane or hoist systems for transferring fish boxes and gear

• Fuel tanks and pump systems to refuel fishing boats at sea

• Bait storage compartments and ice bunkers

• Advanced communication and navigation equipment for safe rendezvous

Common Operations

• Offloading catch from trawlers, seiners, longliners, or gillnetters

• Delivering ice, bait, and provisions to vessels on fishing grounds

• Transporting crew between shore and offshore vessels

• Refueling vessels and providing minor mechanical support or repairs

Do Tenders Operate at Night?
Tenders often meet fishing vessels in the darkness to collect catch and deliver essential supplies, ensuring fishing vessels can stay at sea without returning to port. Crews rely on deck lights, radar, and GPS to guide approaches and transfer fish boxes safely. Limited visibility makes handling heavy catch bins and connecting fuel hoses more hazardous, so reliable lighting and situational awareness are critical until advanced low-light solutions become standard.

Safety isn't optional on fishing vessels. The Coast Guard has established strict safety requirements that all commercial fishing vessels must follow. Think about crews handling heavy equipment on wet, slippery decks, often in rough conditions. The mix of moving machinery, changing weather, and tired workers means that clear visibility isn't just convenient - it's essential safety equipment.

Night Vision Technology in Commercial Fishing

Commercial fishing in low light presents common challenges across all vessel types: limited visibility beyond basic navigation lights, difficulty spotting debris and obstacles, complicated gear handling in darkness, and identifying fish or objects overboard.

Night vision technology outperforms traditional navigation equipment by amplifying available light to reveal details at greater distances without glare. Unlike standard spotlights that only illuminate a small area and can blind crew members, night vision delivers a wider, more natural view of the surroundings, supporting safer navigation, precise gear monitoring, improved crew safety, and better weather assessment.

SIONYX Solutions for Commercial Fishermen

Digital night vision technology continues to evolve. SIONYX offers a night vision camera that is built for fishing operations:

The Nightwave: Purpose-built specifically for boats.

• Ruggedized against salt spray, vibration, and temperature changes

• Connects with existing navigation systems

• Operable with wet or gloved hands

• Permanent wheelhouse installation options

Now offered with Analog in Digital capabilities.

If you need help choosing the right night vision for your vessel, our support team can provide guidance based on your vessel type and specific fishing operations.

Get More From Your Commercial Fishing Vessel

The variety of commercial fishing vessels on our waters shows just how specialized the industry has become—each boat, from trawlers and seiners to longliners, gillnetters, and tenders, tackles a unique method of harvesting marine life. Yet, despite their differences, they all share the same nighttime hurdles: poor visibility, gear-handling dangers, and the constant threat of unseen debris or nearby vessels.

Night vision technology changes the game by revealing what traditional lights cannot: it lets crews see nets filling, spot floating logs or buoys before they become hazards, and track fish schools that would otherwise be invisible after dark. By extending safe operating hours and reducing lost gear, night vision not only keeps crews out of harm’s way but also boosts efficiency, so vessels can stay on the water longer and make every haul count. The next time you spot a commercial fishing boat under the moonlight, remember the specialized equipment, like low-light imaging, that makes modern fishing possible even when the sun’s gone.