Tag Archives: Norway
New Norwegian combined trawler, purse seine and crab vessel heads north
It is the Norwegian fishing company Asbjørn Selsbane who, after a few months delay in delivery from Karstensen Shipyard in Skagen, has now been handed over their new combined and very versatile trawler and purse seine vessel, which can also be rigged for crab fishing. The vessel is named ‘Stødig’ and will have its home port in Tromsø. It is rigged with shrimp trawls and Danish seines as well as for crab fishing and also packed with massive high-tech equipment, with smart solutions incorporated into the 39.30-metre-long and 11.50-metre-wide vessel. >click to read< 11:08
Resqunit and Sig Hansen with a successful product demo in Norway – launching the product globally
We are very proud and satisfied to have carried out this exclusive product demo of our new product which is now being launched in several countries. The fight against ghost fishing has been going on for a long time, but with this product we can now begin to see the end. Our solution helps reduce a huge global environmental problem that costs society and the fishing industry billions every year. Now we will go full throttle globally, says CEO of Resqunit, Helge Trettø Olsen. Major shareholder and TV star Sig Hansen, known from “Deadliest Catch”, conducted the actual demo. I don’t have figures on how many traps I have lost at sea. Resqunit’s solution is something the fishing industry is clamoring for and is a big step in the right direction. We have to reduce the number of fishing equipment lost, and work for more sustainable solutions. >click to read< 13:03
Trawler becomes Crabber/Seiner
Former Scottish pelagic trawler Unity, sold last year to Norway, has gone through a major transformation to become advanced seine netter and crabber K. Nyvoll – which include being lengthened from 38 metres to 53.20 metres. K. Nyvoll was built in 2005 as Julianne at the Simek yard in Flekkefjord for Lunar Fisheries of Lunenburg in Nova Scotia. After some years fishing in Canada, it was sold in 2008 to Norwegian company Asbjørn Selsbane and renamed Julianne to operate as a trawler and seine netter. A few years on, it was sold in 2013 to Unity Fishing in Scotland and was used for pelagic fishing. A further change of hands took place last year when, LHN Fiskeri AS, based on the island Godøya near Ålesund acquired the vessel – and they had some big plans. Photos, >click to read< 18:38
Fishing Industry Cautious After Examining Norway – EU Deal
The IFPO and IFPEA has welcomed Norway’s exclusion from the Irish Box but says Ireland still lacks an equitable arrangement. “Norway have been allocated an extra 36,000MT of blue whiting in the Irish EEZ, compared to just 4,800MT extra blue whiting for Ireland,” says Aodh O Donnell, chief executive of the Irish Fish Producers Organisation (IFPO). O Donnell says fishing representatives took time to carefully consider the new deal, ironically struck on St Patrick’s Day, before responding. >click to read< 14:33
Norway ‘secure more out of fishing deal than Ireland’
Under the deal, Norwegian fishers can catch 224,000 metric tonnes of blue whiting in Irish waters this year, an increase of 110,000 metric tonnes on how much they were allowed to catch last year. In contrast, Irish fishermen and women are only allowed to catch 52,000 metric tonnes of blue whiting, up from the 28,000 tonnes they could catch last year. While unhappy with the lack of quota parity between the two countries, fishing representatives here say the deal has an upside to it. >click to read< 11:50
Fisherman Aims to Revolutionize Crabbing
Crab pots have had much the same design for many years. Now a Norwegian crab fisherman is making crab fishing both more efficient and less physically demanding. ‘The problem with traditional pots is that they normally have two entrances. When brown crabs crawl in, they quite quickly block the way for more crabs to enter. In practice, 30% of the volume in a traditional pot is not filled,’ said Jim Harald Sæternes, who is producing his pots under the Vikingteina brand name. He has an 
application for patent rights pending. ‘The pot has three entrances above each other on three levels. This means that even if there is a lot of crab in the pot, more can get in higher up. I’ve have had the idea behind these pots for a long time. But last year I decided to make something of it, and in February I established the company Proffteiner AS.’ Photos, >click to read< 21:09
Heading Back North After a Major Refit
When seine netter Sara Karin was delivered in June 2017 to father and son Oddgeir and Erik-Andre Brose Krag, it wasn’t long before they knew they would need a bigger boat – and with an eleven-month rebuild practically complete, that’s exactly what they have. Designed by Marin Design, Sara Karin started life as a 19.80 metre seine netter, and they family have fished successfully. In its last full year of operation, 2021, Sara Karin landed 2200 tonnes of H&G frozen blocks, and was among the top seine netters in the Norwegian fleet. ‘The problem is that for six to seven months of the year 
fishing is along the coast of Northern Norway. The other months are we sailing all the way up the Bear Island, and sometimes to Isfjorden at Svalbard. It’s roughly 500 nautical miles for us to Isfjorden, and around half of that distance if fishing around Bear Island,’ Erik-Andre explained. 14 photos on 2 pages, >click to read< 17:56
The New Multi-Role Leinebris
Longliner Leinebris was built to a Skipsteknisk design at the Tersan yard – and the Fosnavåg company is sticking with the same combination of yard and designer for its new vessel, scheduled to be delivered in 2025. What is different is that the new Leinebris isn’t a dedicated longliner like its predecessor but will be outfitted to be able to switch between longlining, gillnetting and seine netting. This new vessel design gets an ST-158 designation, and it’ll be a vessel with a 64.90 metre overall length and a 15 metre beam, with double cargo decks, covered working decks and a moonpool for hauling static gear. The crew’s accommodation facilties will be of a very high standard. Photos, video, >click to read< 17:10
After Deadly Man Over Board, Norway Requires Crab Boats to Improve Deck Safety
On January 30, a Latvian crewmember went over the side of the Norwegian crabber F/V Hunter while fishing for snow crab in the Barents Sea. Despite a heroic search effort, the body was never found, and the individual is presumed dead. An initial inquiry by the Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority found that the crew member may have gone over the side with the crab pot lines while setting gear. The Board particularly cited MOB hazards related to the location of stored bait and the process of setting lines on the pot before deployment. Going forward, the Norwegian Maritime Authority wants operators to “eliminate” the risk of going overboard, “including being dragged overboard with the equipment [crab pots].” >click to read< 10:58
More Length, Capacity and Space
Once the decision had been taken to lengthen F/V Sara Karin, Oddgeir and Erik-Andre Krag went back to the original designer, Marin Design, for the design work on how this could be achieved – and they started looking for a Norwegian yard that could do the job at a competitive price. The outcome turned out to be that the Hirtshals Yard in Denmark, a thousand miles to the south, was selected as the main contractor, with much of the steelwork carried out by another yard in Hirtshals, Vestkajen. While F/V Sara Karin has been at the yard for almost a year, its quotas have been caught by F/V Mosken 2, which the family bought together with its quotas in early 2022. 8 Photos, >click to read< 12:30
Snow crab prices down by nearly 60 per cent in U.S. market
The snow crab season in Atlantic Canada usually doesn’t get going until mid-April, but that doesn’t mean fresh snow crab is not already hitting the U.S. market. Alaskan fleets finished up their tanner crab season this week. That crab is often marketed under the name “snow crab,” being of similar size and colour. If the Alaskan tanner fishery is a portent of things to come, snow crab catches this year will have much less value than in 2022. The tanner fishery started Jan. 15 with wharf prices at US$3.25 to US$3.35 per pound, according to the latest blog from U.S. seafood analyst Les Hodges. The initial offer from processors was $2.50 a pound, but that offer prompted a strike by the crab fishing fleet, that prompted a bump in the offer from processors. >click to read< 14:04
Killybegs-Based Fishing Reps say Norway is Holding EU Fishing Deals to Ransom
Irish fishing representatives have accused Norway of stalling EU quota talks because they failed to secure privileged access to blue whiting in Ireland’s EEZ (European Economic Zone) waters. “Norway has a track record of overfishing blue whiting and mackerel ,” says Aodh O Donnell of the Irish Fish Producers Organisation (IFPO). “So, they should not be rewarded with new and additional access to Ireland’s waters to catch their blue whiting quota.” “They already have an inflated 25% of the total catch for blue whiting, compared to just 3% for Ireland. The Irish Box (a key part of our fishing zone) has some of the richest blue whiting grounds – worth around €160m. This is why Norway is targeting our waters. They are still not offering any meaningful reciprocal deal to Ireland in return for our blue whiting.” >click to read< 10:36
‘Another nail in the coffin of Ireland’s indigenous fishing industry’
That Norway wants more access to Ireland’s fish than it already has is something that has probably passed most people by. So too the fact that this became a red-line issue for the Irish fishing industry. At stake is the future of thousands of jobs in fishing villages and towns across the country. Also at stake is ultimately the chance of the average punter getting fresh Irish fish with their chips. Why? Because if the Norwegians succeed in their bid, it will cement a perception in the industry that Ireland cannot protect its own waters at EU level and the current exodus from the industry will, according to industry chiefs, continue as a consequence. >click to read< 09:32
Disabled AIS Contributes to Fishing Boat Collision off Norway
On the morning of October 4, the coastal freighter Edmy departed the port of Larvik, bound for Copenhagen. The harbor pilot got off at the pilot station off Porsgrunn, and the ship continued outbound in fine, clear weather. The navigator was alone on watch, and after checking the radar and looking out the window, he turned to the computer located aft in the wheelhouse to take care of some paperwork. About half an hour later, the navigator felt the ship hit something, and he saw a fishing boat’s mast passing along the side. The mast belonged to the prawn trawler Tornado,,, >click to read< 09:49
UK reaches agreement on key fish stocks for 2023
The UK has reached agreements with the EU and Norway, and wider coastal states, to secure valuable fishing opportunities for the UK fishing industry. Negotiating as an independent coastal State, the UK agreed catch levels for 2023 for six important fish stocks in the North Sea including North Sea cod, haddock and herring. This comes as the UK also concluded negotiations on catch limits with coastal States in the North East Atlantic on three more key stocks to the UK fishing fleet – blue whiting, mackerel and atlanto-Scandian herring. In total, UK quota in these stocks will be worth around £256m to the UK fishing industry next year. >click to read< 11:15
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
