Just arrived in Tromsø after wonderful days in Thailand.
The" BigFisher" is seaborn, and need some minor maintenance on heaters and gear shift cables.
The new Volvo Tamd 63 engine is running very good, and hopefully in a week we are ready for action.
I have noticed lately that some local sporting anglers and professional fishermen are worried about the increasing numbers of tourist anglers in the area, and that they are conserned about the future for the local fisheries. In the last Years we have seen that catfish, cod and halibuts have been more and more popular targets for anglers from abroad.
Last year I experienced very good fishing in this area, and it will be interesting to see how this year will turn out.
Tourist fishing represents good income for many local communities along the Norwegian coast, and many people have a major part of their income from this business. Today more people are employed at tourist fishing camps than in the professional ordinary fish industry, and the value from this tourist fishing represents today about 1500 Nok pr. Kilo fish - this is almost
100 times more than from the ordinary fish industry.
The pressure on the fishing resources from tourist fishing is increasing, but compared to the
equipment used by professional fishermen - long lines and nets - Reels and rods will, as far as I can understand, never be the major threat to the fishresources in Norwegian waters.
It is indeed very important to be aware of the different interests, and consequently establish good and fair regulations for this activity as soon as possible.
In the planning process of the Kvaløyvågen camp we have made a proposal to cooperate with the Authorities of fishing - Fiskarfylkingen- in making this camp to a pioneer camp as far as new and good rules are concerned.
My experience is that many of the companies in this business today Are very professional and well organized. They have already implemented very good rules and routines that can be used as
examples for the future regulations that has to be established to organized this activity.
The lack of good regulations today represents a problem for all interests involved.
The main regulation that excist today is that a tourist can bring no more than 15 kg of fish out of Norway. Today there is no restrictions in how much a tourist can fish or dump or to which areas he can go fishing. We need better rules for three main reasons- first to prevent
fighting beetween professional and tourist fishermen. Second we need rules to secure the fisheries for future generations, and third it is necessary to have equipment standards and good security rules.
Some areas of high importance to the professional fishermen has probably to
be more protected , and the number of fishes to be taken out has to be determined.
It is very important both to the tourist fishing industry and the professional fishermen to
secure the resources for the benefit of the future - No fish means bad business !!!
