Tag Archives: Norway
Turning a Profit During Tough Times
Despite very high fuel prices, it’s possible to trawl for shrimp and make a profit, according to Agnar Langtveit. 2022 has been an exceptionally tough year, but he’s managed to run the 42-year-old Astrid Ann at a modest profit. ‘The problem for many trawlers is the combination of high fuel costs and heavy debts. I am fortunate in not having any big debts. I could choose to build a new vessel, but then I’d have to buy more quota. So as long as Astrid Ann is profitable, I don’t see any reason to buy a new boat,’ he said. On the other hand, older trawlers come with higher maintenance costs and older engines bur more fuel. Fishing between 200 and 500 metres, Astrid Ann needs reliable towing power, so last year a new 1044hp CAT 3508C main engine was fitted, along with a Mekanord 500 HS gear and a CAT C44 harbour set. Photos, >click to read< 12:47
F/V Skar Senior – Norwegian Seafood Company’s New Locally Built 48M Seiner/Trawler
The seiner/trawler, which is also named Skar Senior, was delivered by the local partnership of naval architecture firm Marin Teknikk and shipyard Maloy Verft. It has an LOA of 48.3 metres, a moulded beam of 12 metres, and accommodations for a crew of 10. The vessel was designed according to the owner’s specifications, which called for advanced purse seining and trawling equipment, 500-cubic-metre RSW tanks, and a vacuum system so that fish is gently hauled on board to ensure the best possible catch quality. The hull was built to DNV light ice class to allow operations even during days of mild winter. Photos, >click to read< 09:39
Latest LNG Powered Pelagic Catcher
Designed by Salt Ship Design, F/V Sunny Lady follows Libas, built for Lie Gruppen at the same yard as the first fishing vessels to run on LNG as fuel. Cemre has another such innovative vessel under construction, the Skipsteknisk-designed Selvåg Senior, which has been launched for outfitting – cementing Cemre’s reputation for building highly sophisticated fishing vessels. F/V Sunny Lady – the name is a historical one for owners Teige Rederi and came from a merchant vessel that was once part of the family company – is arranged for pelagic trawling and purse seining. Photos, >click to read< 14:46
Cemre delivers Norwegian LNG-powered fishing vessel
Turkish shipbuilder Cemre has handed over an LNG-powered vessel to Norwegian fishing company Teige Rederi. Cemre said in a statement on Friday it had delivered the purse seiner/pelagic trawler, Sunny Lady. Designed by Salt Ship Design and classed by DNV, the 86.5 meters long purse seiner/pelagic trawler is the second in the world to feature LNG-powered propulsion and a battery pack, after Libas, Cemre claims. >click to read< 19:01
Fishermen join forces to tackle North Sea cod quota ‘mismatch’
Skippers and other industry representatives from Shetland, Scotland, Denmark, Norway and England met in Copenhagen to discuss a “quota mismatch” they are facing at sea, Shetland Fishermen’s Association said today. Vessels are encountering more cod than current official assessments, the industry group said, adding the recent talks in Copenhagen “painted a unanimous picture” of an abundant stock stretching across the whole North Sea and beyond. But quota for the species, a staple of fish suppers in many parts of the UK has been slashed by 70% in just three years. According to the SFA, this “poor science” leads to quota recommendations that bear no resemblance to the volume of fish in the sea. >click to read< 12:46
Fishing organization tells members to avoid Russian waters
Fiskebåt, the organization, on Monday told its members that caused by the tense situation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it would be recommended to avoid fishing in the Russian economic zone until further notice. “Our thoughts go first and foremost to those who live in Ukraine, but at the same time we must continuously consider what consequences this situation will have for the activity of our members,” says Audun Maråk, CEO in Fiskebåt. Right now, there are no Norwegian fishing vessels in the Russian zone, as most of the Barents Sea over the past few weeks has been closed due to massive military maneuvers and shootings by the powerful Northern Fleet. Led by President Putin, the nuclear deterrence forces were exercising earlier in February. >click to read< 12:40
A Winning Combination
A change a few years ago in Norwegian regulations governing which fishing methods can be combined in a single vessel has opened the way for longline and seine net combinations – and the latest newbuild to bring these methods together has been delivered. F/V Østerfjord sailed from its builder in Turkey at the end of last year and at the beginning of January headed out from Ålesund for its first trials trip to test the 76,000-hook Mustad 
system before starting fishing on cod for real in the Barents Sea. A relative newcomer to the longline business but with a long background in pelagic fisheries, the Østervold family last year sold their previous F/V Østerfjord to the Faroes ahead of the new vessel’s completion. photos, >click to read< 11:07
Norway: Kids Slice Out Cod Tongues for Serious Money
For as long as anybody can remember, tungeskjaererne have been responsible for the local cod tongue trade, even as fish factories give up the money they would otherwise get from the tongues by donating the fish heads to children and teenagers. The tradition introduces young people to the fishing industry and teaching them the value of entrepreneurship and hard work seems to matter more than making an extra kroner or two.The job makes selling Girl Scout cookies or running a lemonade stand look like child’s play. Arctander knows tungeskjaererne who have made more than $11,000 in a single season. “I haven’t thought of anything else in the world where kids can make so much money,”,,, >click to read< 08:34
All-time high for Norwegian seafood
“2021 was another exciting export year for Norwegian seafood. We are in the very favorable position of having products in high demand the world over, even in times of crisis. This has resulted in a growth in demand, record export volumes and a total export value that Norway has never experienced before,” says Renate Larsen, CEO of the Norwegian Seafood Council. Cod is still the most important fish, One of the most exotic species from the north is the king crab. “The abolition of the quota for red king crab in Alaska combined with increased demand in Asia, the USA and Europe has led to the demand for king crab being greater than the supply,,, >click to read< 10:30
Premium prices no problem for shrimp, crab, lobster consumers
Global supply chain issues are affecting supplies of some crustaceans sold in US grocery stores, and driving some prices up, but consumers seem willing to pay extra for their “must have” shrimp, crab, lobster and other products. “Red king crab availability is very tight, so look for more snow crab or even golden king crab in its place,” Shrimp is far and away the best-selling seafood item in the United States, and Amdahl doesn’t see that changing anytime soon.,, Despite the logistics headaches that are slowing shipments of foods worldwide, US retailers can expect to have volumes of a variety of crustacean products from Norwegian fisheries,,, >click to read< 10:38
Factory Trawler Kirkella may be sold or moved abroad’ after devastating fishing deal
The Kirkella has been standing idle since December 2020 when the UK lost its rights to fish in Norwegian waters following Brexit. UK Fisheries, who operate the Kirkella, said that the new deal struck with the Scandinavian country leaves the crew with a quota amounting to just one week’s work. The fishing pact will see fleets from both countries able to catch up to 30,000 tonnes of cod, haddock and hake in the North Sea according to the government. But the owners of the Kirkella said it won’t be enough to sustain their ship or crew of 30. >click to read< 10:03
UK secures fishing access and quotas with Norway
Today (21 December 2021) the UK, negotiating as an independent coastal State, has reached an agreement with Norway on fisheries access and quotas for 2022. These discussions mark the start of a new arrangement between the UK and Norway, in which both parties permit some access to each other’s waters and exchange a number of fish quotas in the North Sea and the Arctic. The agreement on mutual access will allow respective fleets more flexibility to target the stocks in the best condition throughout the fishing year, supporting a more sustainable and economically viable fishing industry. >click to read< 09:07
Fishermen call for ‘shake-up’ of quota setting system
In response to the deal, which was finalised on Friday, Shetland Fishermen’s Associations have again called for the creation of an independent panel of experts to examine and evaluate stock assessments made by scientists from the International Council of for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). The SFA’s executive officer Simon Collins said the agreed quotas bear “little of no resemblance of the abundance of fish observed on the grounds.” “We’re sick and tired of going through the same process every year. Wildly erratic stock assessments, often both ways, are held up as sacred truths,,, >click to read< 21:20
A trilateral agreement: More haddock can be caught after fishing deal with EU and Norway
The UK has made a deal with Norway and the European Union on how to divide up fish stocks in the North Sea next year. While fishing groups have welcomed the agreement, catch-sector bosses say it does nothing to resolve issues around access to cod in Norwegian waters after talks in the spring between London and Oslo collapsed. Ministers say they “remain optimistic” a deal with Norway and the Faroe Islands for 2022 can be struck before the end of the year. >click to read< 08:39
Brexit, an “ocean of possibilities”? British fishermen mixed
A heavy weather warning was announced this weekend in the North Sea. Rain and wind are already sweeping Peterhead and its pink granite dwellings. Located in the east of Scotland, the UK’s largest fishing port in terms of fish caught sees its boats returning for shelter. Except Peter Bruce, who will stay at sea until the last moment. ” We use so much gasoline to reach the whitefish fishing grounds that it is not financially worthwhile to come back for six to eight days.”,,, While Peter Bruce usually fills his holds with 50 tonnes of fish, he sometimes has to make do with 35 tonnes. Particularly since the 1is January. >click to read< 14:53
Tastes better
Every day it seems to become just a little more obvious that the future of the commercial salmon business is on land no matter what Alaskans might think about where the tastiest fish are to be found. This week the news is from northern Spain where a company named Norcantabric,,,On its website, the company boasts that its farm will produce salmon that are “fresh, reduces transport time up to 5 days; 100 percent natural, without antibiotics, free of toxins, heavy metals and other artificial materials, without hormones, without sea lice and free of parasites. There are long term implications here for an Alaska commercial fishing industry once the economic mainstay of the territory, and for decades after Statehood, the 49th state’s largest employer. >click to read< 16:50
The fishing war over Brexit has begun! Norway races to catch fish before they reach UK waters.
The fishing war over Brexit has begun! Norway is racing to catch fish before they reach UK waters. According to rumors, BREXIT would trigger a fishing competition among Norwegian trawlers as the Scandinavians strive to collect as many mackerel and herring as possible before migrating to British waters. Northern European fishermen are no longer allowed to fish up to the UK’s 12-mile coastline border under post-Brexit laws. As a result, Norwegian boats are racing to grab their catch before the salmon migrate west in September. N-TV, a German television station, has prophesied an impending “herring and mackerel race” between Norway and the United Kingdom. >click to read< 10:14
Ireland’s fishing industry: A post-Brexit quandary
Fishermen and women are in a quandary over sharp Brexit cuts to their catch in the EU-UK trade agreement. The deal eliminates some €20 million from mackerel and prawn quotas this year. By 2026 the annual value of all stocks will drop €43 million, a 15 per cent cut from 2020. For the fishing industry, this is the opposite of the decisive European solidarity that buttressed Ireland’s efforts to keep the Border open after Brexit. Trawlers sailed into Dublin port last week to protest outside a meeting of the Dáil in the convention centre. After huge price cuts because of coronavirus, the mood is grim in coastal communities. The Seafood Task Force, a Government-appointed group that includes the industry, reports a “deep sense of grievance”. >click to read< 13:35
Sig Hansen: “My legacy I suppose is going to be ‘Deadliest Catch’, partnered in business ventures in Norway
Hansen, who survived heart attack scares in 2016 and 2018, can see his time at sea coming into port. “My legacy I suppose is going to always be ‘Deadliest Catch,’ I imagine, but there’s other things too that you want to have succeeded at,” Hansen said. And to that end, he’s partnered with two business ventures in Norway. “One is Resqunit, which is a retrieving device so that if you lose your fishing gear you can then retrieve it. It has a GPS monitor, so that’s a game-changer.” And then there’s Captain Sig’s Crab Bait. “We have a nice bait as well that’s never been done,” Hansen told Nicki. “It’s all sustainable, it’s made from fish meal, but we have a secret recipe. And, you know, that’s about sustainability for fishing all across the globe, so it’s really moving forward.” >click to read< 13:03
The last cowboys – a replay of the story of cattle in the American West
Norway, a country less than a quarter the size of Alaska, is on pace to bring 1.2 million tonnes of salmon to market this year, and the technologists in that country are talking about the potential to grow their production to 3 million tonnes per year by 2030. Chile, Scotland, the Faroe Islands, and Canada are all significant producers with lesser production in Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, France, Ireland and Finland. Meanwhile, land-based, recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) farms are threatening to lead to an explosion in salmon aquaculture almost everywhere. To truly understand the threat these farmers pose to the future of one of Alaska’s oldest and still largest industries,,, >click to read< 08:52
A “very black day for Britain” – Yorkshire’s last distant-water fishery has been scuppered
The failure to land a deal allowing the UK to fish in Norwegian sub-Arctic waters means the crew of the £52m Kirkella, which lands into Hull, has no work. UK Fisheries CEO Jane Sandell said they had been promised a “sea of opportunity, not the scuppering of an entire industry.” She said: “George Eustice owes our crews and the Humberside region an explanation as to why the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) was unable even to maintain the rights we have had to fish in Norwegian waters for decades, never mind land the boasts of a ‘Brexit Bonus’, which has turned to disaster. >click to read< 15:45
Paragraph Boat’s Loss Poses Questions – Just over a year after its delivery, Norwegian longliner F/V Fay sank
Built at Stadyard, F/V Fay was typical for new larger Norwegian coastal fishing vessels, with a 20.99 metre overall length and a 10 metre beam. Such proportions are not unusual for new vessels in this class – and the reason is the Norwegian quota system which limits certain quotas within length brackets. In Norwegian, these rulebeaters are known as paragraph boats, designed to get around regulatory restrictions. What really happened when 
F/V Fay was lost? The report explains that while shooting the line, a power failure occurred, and in a dead ship situation it was not possible to close the setting hatch. The investigation also found that the approved stability calculations for Fay did not meet requirements. photos, >click to read< 21:50
UK Fisheries call for tariffs on Norway, Greenland and Iceland to compensate for access loss of their waters
Despite two years of campaigning to save the UK’s distant-waters fishing industry, UK Fisheries Ltd’s state-of-the-art vessel Kirkella (pictured), a cod and haddock freezer trawler and part of the UK’s distant waters fishing fleet, is once again tied up in Hull. UK Fisheries still have no access to the Norwegian coastal waters where our crews should be working right now. >click to read< 07:13
Norway: Red Light For More Offshore Wind Farm Energy Plans
The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has put an end to plans for a 350mW windfarm off Western Norway’s Møre coast, reversing a decision previously made by the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) to allow Havsul I AS an extension until 2025. The NVE decision was appealed by a number or interest groups and fishing industry bodies Fiskebåt and Fiskarlaget had worked to ensure that no further extension would be granted. According to Fiskebåt, this is a significant victory for the fishing industry. >click to read< 08:42
Norwegian Crab Fisherman Renat Besolov
“I like the sea and my job as “deck manager” on board the Northeastern. It is great to be outside, even if it is both stormy and snowy,” says Renat Besolov. For the past five years, he has worked onboard four different vessels. Onboard the Northeastern, the crew varies slightly according to the season, but normally there are 23 people on board. “We go eight hours to work and eight hours off. This is how we go the whole trip, which is normally four to five weeks. And as we usually say when we are at sea – crabs on the tank make money in the bank,” >click to read< 20:35
Trawler firm says one-off trip is ‘sticking plaster’ as UK-Norway deal is needed
On Wednesday, Kirkella left Hull for a trip to the icy waters around the island of Svalbard which the vessel’s owner, UK Fisheries, has described as a “sticking plaster”. UK Fisheries says its licence means the number of fish it can catch will only allow this one trip. But this is about 10% of what it would have been allowed under the pre-Brexit regime. UK Fisheries chief executive Jane Sandell said: “We’re glad to be going out fishing at last, but this is only a sticking plaster. “Kirkella will be out for a few weeks but then, unless something changes very soon, we’ll have no more work for our crews for the foreseeable future.” >click to read< 11:38
Testing Concepts for Floating Offshore Solar Panels
A unique test is getting underway exploring the potential of floating offshore solar panels as the latest contributor in the search for new renewable energy sources. Norwegian energy company Equinor, which has already expanded into offshore wind, is collaborating with a developmental energy company, Moss Maritime, to test the solar technology including in the harsh Norwegian environment. “We have been working on this concept for the past three years, most recently through our partnership with Equinor,” >click to read< 13:01
A World First: Activation of Commercial Iridium Global Maritime Distress Safety System on board Norwegian Trawler
The Norwegian trawler F/V Trygvason has put to sea following installation of two Lars Thrane LT-3100S GMDSS terminals by local marine services company Brommeland Elektronikk A/S, with Iridium GMDSS service provided by remote communications solutions provider, Applied Satellite Technology (AST). The terminal manufactured by Lars Thrane A/S is the only GMDSS terminal paired with Iridium’s global network. >click to read< 12:48
Brexit fishing outrage – UK Fishing Industry Disappointed By Brexit Deal
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said earlier on Thursday that Britain had agreed a “reasonable” five-and-half-year transition period with the EU over fisheries, longer than the three years it wanted but shorter than the 14 years the EU had originally asked for. “The industry will be bitterly disappointed that there is not more of definitive break,” Barrie Deas, NFFO, >click to read< 09:40
Brexit fishing outrage as UK will never be FULLY in control of its waters like Norway – Britain will never be fully in control of its waters like Norway, not even after the transition period agreed in the Brexit trade deal, it has emerged. Despite Downing Street calling a “mutual compromise”, it does seem Mr Johnson capitulated on one of the most contentious areas of the talks: fishing rights. >click to read<
