Report from an international workshop on seine net fishing held in Keflavik, Iceland, May 08

Summary

With the growing interest in this relatively fuel-efficient method of fishing, the college invited speakers from Iceland and across Europe to share their experience and expertise in seine netting (also known as Danish seining, as this technique has its origins in Denmark). Lárus Thór Pálmason, the college’s senior lecturer in fishing gear technology and principal organiser of the event explained that rising fuel prices had driven a growing interest in seine net fishing and the college had been approached informally on several occasions to show groups of fishermen and vessel owners from other countries how seine net fishing works. The visits allowed an insight into how fishermen from other countries were dealing with the problems related to high fuel costs and looking to methods such as seine netting as one way of mitigating the problem. Programmes for visiting fishermen included visits to fishing gear suppliers, some gear simulation sessions in the small flume tank which the college has, and the chance to spend a day at sea with a working boat. These visits have been so popular that it was decided that it would be a good idea to try and pool a lot of the information that has been gathered into a workshop, and hence the international workshop was arranged.

Author

• K. Arkley

Publication date

01 June 2008