Klondyker

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A large vessel that processes and freezes fish at sea, having been caught by smaller boats working nearby
2. A factory trawler on which catches from other fishing ships are gutted, cleaned and preserved while still at sea
3. A ship that serves as a floating processing plant for fish landed by accompanying fishing vessels in distant waters

Etymology: Klondike was the Yukon region where a gold rush erupted in 1896, when prospectors flooded in after gold was found in the area's streams. The name came from a local Indigenous language, and the rush made it famous worldwide. The fishing trade borrowed that image, and the "-er" ending turns the place name into a word for a ship that works like a gold-rush boomtown at sea. A klondyker is a factory ship that does not catch fish itself. Instead, it sails to fishing grounds, buys catches directly from trawlers, processes the fish on board, and freezes or packs it. Trawlers could stay out longer without sailing home to port, and the factory ship supplied a market at sea. The comparison is to the frantic, crowded scramble of Klondike prospectors, with fishing boats rushing alongside to unload.

Synonyms: factory ship