As tropical cyclone Fina bears down on the Top End, Darwin's fishing boat crews are getting top protection at sea thanks to online weather sites using satellite images and computer-assisted forecasting.
This allows the boats to be positioned out of harm's way and continue fishing rather than having to shelter in dock.
Vessels at Darwin's Francis Bay mooring basin also get cyclone protection with an ingenious system of pumping out water to protect the vessels.
At the basin on Friday, Australia Bay Seafoods general manager Michael O'Brien was busy checking weather sites for the latest cyclone information while tracking on-screen three of his boats at sea.
Fina is predicted to pass just north of Darwin on the weekend, bringing heavy rain and dangerous winds to the Northern Territory capital with power outages, felled trees, building damage and flash flooding expected.
Mr O'Brien said he had been monitoring the cyclone for five days, with boats moved out of the way of the weather as he and his skippers tracked the system online.
"We've got a boat in today unloading and we moved him the other day and brought him in under the cyclone before it had got to within a dangerous distance of him," he told AAP.
"We really do take our crew safety seriously."
On Friday, as another cyclone safety measure, water was being pumped out of the "duck pond" moorings so the fishing boats and other small vessels there will settle on the muddy bottom.
"It stops them breaking loose and drifting away and causing havoc among the boats that don't break away," Mr O'Brien said.
Water will be pumped back in when the cyclone has passed.
Mr O'Brien expects Fina's impacts to be "short and sweet" and hopes fishing boats in dock can head out to sea on Sunday morning.
