A fish blog.com

In March and April a Norwegian fishing vessel was a part of a multinational survey on the fishing grounds west of Ireland. The survey covered the spawning area of the blue whiting in order to collect data about the blue whiting stock. Acoustic data and biological samples gives the scientists a good impression of the size of the stock and its age composition. Sometimes the catch includes more than just blue withing. On the picture below you can see an Atlantic pomfret (Brama brama) caught by trawl.

The Atlantic pomfret can reach a length of 1 meter and it it is found in all oceans (except the North Pacific) where it can be caught on different depths down to 1000 meters. It is not a rare fish all though Norwegian fishermen rarely see them.

On the picture above you see more of the catch sorted out from the blue whiting. The small fish are Benthosema glaciale (also referred to as “lanternfish”), the long and flat fish with red fins are deal fish, and you can also see some mackerels. Photos: Øyvind Tangen

Tags: Atlantic pomfret, brama brama, deal fish, Fish and fishing, lanternfish, pomfret, trawl

The Atlantic halibut is one of the biggest fish found in Norwegian waters. While the female halibut can reach a weight of more than 200 kilos, the male is considerably smaller. The pictures shown on this post are taken during a tagging experiment in the western part of Norway. The halibuts are caught on long lines.

It was believed that the maximum size of male halibuts in Norwegian waters was about 50 kilos which was the weight of the biggest male halibut caught by then.

A couple of days ago I got some pictures in my mailbox. The pictures were sent me by Torstein Halstensen who is an eager halibut-tagger. He uses a lot of his spare time and holidays to catch and tag halibut in order to get better knowledge about the behaviour of this vulnerable species.

The halibut shown on this page is a male which proportions are breaking the former record. This male was 1,75 meters long, weighing 75-80 kilos.

The fish was tagged and released, and if it get caught again we will learn more about the maximum size of male halibuts.

Tags: big, Fish and fishing, fishing, halibut, length, long lines, male, male halibut, maximum size, norway, weigh

In my last post I showed some pictures of a fishing boat fishing off the coast of Norway. The traditional coastal fisheries - commercial or recreational - have always been affected by efficiency improvement and in this post you will see a fast boat for recreational fishing. The following pictures and text are coming from Aksel Knutsen:

This is the newest model of fishing boats with a hull built for speed, a 115 horse powers outboard engine, a wide and good working deck and a wheelhouse and cabin with oil heater, salt water flush toilet and all modern electronic equipment for fish finding and navigation.

Our forefathers would capsize in their graves if they could see this. But the proud owner of this vessel, Harald Nybø, doesn’t understand why he should paddle about at a speed of 8 knots, when he now can fly at 30. By the way: He can do some fishing from his boat, too.

Tags: , fast boat, fishing boat, galia, galia 610, harald nybø

The number of fishermen in Norway is getting lower year by year and the vessels are getting bigger and bigger. In spite of this delvelopment the fleet of smaller coastal vessels is still playing an important role in the Norwegian fisheries. On this post you will see some pictures taken by Aksel Knutsen. At this time of year the sun is still close to the horizon, but some hours of daylight gives the opportunity to take your camera with you when your’re out on the sea.

After hauling the nets the fish must be gutted and cleaned. Seagulls gather to take part in this process. Being a coastal fisherman is not an easy way to make a living, although it might seem romantic on these pictures. Some fishermen are trying out a new type of boats, called “speed-fishingboats”. Fishermen on Iceland have good experience with that kind of vessels.

50 years ago there could be four or five fishermen on such a boat. Nowadays most fishermen work alone on this type of vessel. The vessel does not give enough income to pay for a crew. Some people like the freedom and the responsibility this kind of fishing provides, but the fishermen are getting fewer and fewer.

Tags: aksel knutsen, fishingboat, fishingvessel, norway, photo, picture