Title: An alternative design of trawls for off-shore fishing in Vietnam

This study deals with designing an alternative fishing gear for Vietnamese fisheries. It looks at both pair trawl and single trawl with doors for fishing in Vietnam seawater at depth 100 – 300 m. The study used a combination of knowledge pertaining to similarity method and experimental method in trawl designing. Although there is no exact design theory, similarity method gives a sound knowledge for designing trawl net better than experimental knitting method, which is commonly used by Vietnamese fishermen. As the designer has to be creative in each particular case, and the effectiveness of fishing gear so developed depends heavily on the knowledge acquired from fishermen and on information on bottom conditions and fish behaviour, This study could be used as an effort of trial and balance for further work in this direction. It leads to rational decisions regarding future development of suitable trawls for Vietnamese deep-sea fishery.