This year’s clean-up cruise to locate and retrieve lost fishing gear in Norwegian waters is underway, with pelagic vessel Vikingbank this year chartered for this purpose.
Vikingbank sailed on 10th August to start on the clean-up, and aims to cover the area from Ålesund to Kirkenes between now and the end of September.
The annual clean-up operation is organised and managed by the Directorate of Fisheries and this plays an important role in clearing the seabed of lost and abandoned fishing gears.
‘Usable components and entire gears that are picked up are returned to the owner as far as possible, while some go for recycling. What cannot be used in any way is handled by waste reception,’ said cruise director Gjermund Langedal, commenting that this work includes fishing grounds well away from the coast, as well as coastal and waters inside fjords in the more northerly regions.
‘The areas that we select are strictly prioritised, depending on where we expect to achieve the most significant results. For this reason, the areas from Sunnmøre and southwards to the Swedish border are not as highly prioritised this year, but instead two smaller cruises will take place in coastal waters, in Oslo fjord and the area near Kristiansand,’ he said, commenting that fishermen generally report lost gear, as required, although there are always some who report late, or fail to report their lost gear.
‘If someone has forgotten to report their lost gear or knows of areas with remaining fishing gear, this is the last chance to report it,’ he said as Vikingbank was about to sail from Ålesund.
‘Any loss reports from the second period of the Greenland halibut fishery will of course be included in due course. We encourage co-operation so that the clean-up operation can be carried out quickly and efficiently,’ Gjermund Langedal said.
