Bigger Boat Makes Research Easier

RESEARCH: January last year Fiskaaling bought the fishing boat Norðhavið, which was then renamed after Andrias Reinert, who for many years was director of the company. With this purchase of a larger research vessel Fiskaaling’s viability in carrying out research at the Faroese fjords in questionable weather has improved significantly.

After many years of having owned a small fibre-glass boat called Írland, at the start of last year Fiskaaling bought the fishing boat Norðhavið, which is significantly larger than the old boat. The newly acquired boat was renamed Andrias Reinert, who was one of the pioneers of the Faroese aquaculture industry and who, for many years, was the director of the company.

Following the purchase, a lot of minor changes were made to the boat to make it more workable regarding the tasks, which Fiskaaling will be using it for.

Broadly speaking, there are three tasks that Fiskaaling uses the research vessel, Andrias Reinert, for. They are louse trawling, hydrographic measurements, and measurements of currents. The boat is equipped with a measuring device, which can register the current velocity while sailing. Additionally, Fiskaaling is responsible for certain tasks in carrying out depth measurements in areas where measurements are not available, so that more accurate seabed maps may be made.

- Basically, we are doing the same work onboard Andrias Reinert as onboard the other boat. The biggest advantage of buying a bigger boat is that it is more seaworthy and therefore enables us to work in less-than-ideal weather. Getting around the country and thereby getting research done is more effortless. Later the plan is also to bring other equipment onboard and to make some additional changes to make it possible to carry out other tasks, says Øystein Patursson, researcher at Fiskaaling.

If anyone wishes to learn more about this, it is possible to contact Øystein Patursson, researcher at Fiskaaling, tel. no. +298 774787.