Asbjørn Selsbane AS fishes for cod, haddock, saithe, shrimp, snow crab, mackerel, Norwegian spring-spawning herring, North Sea herring, greater argentine and capelin. We also supply by-products such as liver and roe, and are contracted by Calanus to catch Calanus finmarchicus.
Cod is one of our most common and economically important fish species. It lives on the continental shelf in large parts of the North Atlantic. We mainly distinguish between two stocks: coastal cod and oceanic cod. Cod is a bottom-dwelling fish and feeds on capelin, herring and sprat. They are found along the entire Norwegian coast, the southern Barents Sea, the North Sea and the Skagerrak. When the cod is ready to spawn, we call it skrei and the spawning area stretches from Finnmark to Stad, but the most important areas are Lofoten, Vesterålen and Senja. It spawns in the period from February to April. The company has 5 quotas for cod.
The saithe is a fish in the cod family that lives at the surface of the sea and down to a depth of 300 meters. It is a schooling fish that feeds on smaller fish such as herring and sprat. It hunts collectively by surrounding schools of fish and pushing them up to the surface. The saithe spawns in the period from January to May, from Lofoten and south to the North Sea. We have two stocks, one north and one south of N62 degrees. The saithe we catch are seined in the spring from Arnøy in Troms and northwards. The company has a total of 4 quotas.
Norwegian spring-spawning herring (NVG) is the largest stock of herring along the Norwegian coast. It overwinters off the coast of Northern Norway and spawns from the Møre coast up to Lofoten. Herring fishing for NVG mainly takes place in the period from October to March. North Sea herring is fished south of N62 degrees in the North Sea and Skagerrak for much of the year. For 2013, the company has a quota of 1,640 tons of NVG herring. The herring is mainly delivered for human consumption.
Haddock is a fish in the cod family. It is a bottom-dwelling fish that feeds on benthic animals, squid and small fish. It is found in the North Atlantic, the Bay of Biscay, the Barents Sea and Iceland. The haddock is found along the entire coast of Norway and migrates during the spawning period, March-June, to the North Sea, along "eggakanten" from Møre og Romsdal, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. The company has a quota of approximately 1,000 tons of haddock.
The mackerel is a pelagic fish that occurs in large shoals along the coast of Norway, Skagerrak and in the southern Norwegian Sea. The fishing period is from April to November. For 2019, the company has a quota of 600 tons to be fished in the North Sea in the autumn.
The deep water shrimp, also known as the cold water shrimp, thrives best at great depths, usually deeper than 70 meters, but can also be found as shallow as 15-20 meters and as deep as 900 meters. It is widespread on both sides of the North Atlantic. In the Barents Sea, the size can reach up to 16 cm and weigh 20 g, with a lifespan of up to 10 years. Asbjørn Selsbane fishes for cold-water shrimp with MS Stødig in the icy waters of the Barents Sea between April and September. Most of the catches are delivered raw to the industry, while the largest prawns are sorted out, cooked and frozen on board.
The snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) belongs to the family of stone crabs (Majidae) and is found naturally in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean. It was first discovered in the Barents Sea in 1996 and it is unclear how it got there. Asbjørn Selsbane fishes for snow crab using pots with the vessel MS Stødig in the Barents Sea. Snow crabs live up to 15 years and only the males make up the commercial part of the stock, as the females rarely grow big enough. The crabs that are caught are at least 6 years old. On the snow crab, it is the legs ("clusters" with four legs and a claw) that are eaten. The taste of snow crab is reminiscent of king crab, but has a slightly sweeter taste and very fine meat.
On board MS Asbjørn Selsbane, we have the opportunity for live storage of fish. This gives us a unique opportunity to deliver more fresh raw materials and contribute to greater continuity in the delivery of live fish "out of season". On board, all six cargo holds are prepared for live storage of fish. During fishing, the catch is sorted by species and the dead/dying fish are dealt with in the usual way. We often use the freezer for this. Usually, up to 10% of the catch is sorted out for freezing.
Depending on a number of factors, we have the capacity to carry approximately 35 tons of live-caught cod on board per trip These are delivered to certified companies along the coast that have fish pens for cod.
Purse seine fishing is, and has always been, an important fishery for fish species that travel in dense shoals in the upper and middle parts of the water. Herring, capelin, saithe and mackerel are typical species fished with seines. Seine fishing is mainly divided into two groups, the purse seine fleet and the coastal fleet. The coastal fleet has been characterized by smaller vessels that have fished along the coast, but recent developments in vessels have meant that there are now greater opportunities to operate further out to sea. As a result, the distinction between the two groups has become smaller.
Purse seine fishing is normally divided into five phases. The exploration phase, casting/set nets, spinning, hauling in the net and pumping the catch on board. In the search phase, the school of fish is searched for by instruments such as sonar and echo sounders. When the net is set, a drift anchor is released and the net goes out. The boat is slowly swung in a circle/arc while the net is deployed and set in a circle until the entire net is in the water. The net should then sink. The net is kept afloat at the top of the floating element while the lower part sinks down using lead weights attached to the net.
The sonar works by registering echoes of its own emitted sound. A short sound wave is sent and the echoes are registered on the screen. The sonar can detect schools of fish up to 4-5 kilometers away from the boat and helps to make fishing considerably more efficient, as well as ensuring that the positioning of the vessel is correct in relation to the school of fish.
When the net is set, it is twisted together at the bottom and the catch is locked in. The net is pulled in through Triplex and transported to the net box with the net layer. The fish can now be pumped on board where it is stored in large tanks with chilled water.
Purse seine fishing for saithe
Danish seine is a type of trawl that does not use trawl doors. The net consists of a bag with "wings/arms" attached to a long rope. The ropes are used to hold the "arms" open so that the fish are guided into the bag. The rope is set in a circle around the fish and can be up to 50 mm thick and have a length of 2 x 2000 meters. When the ropes are pulled in, the fish are caught and gathered in front of the seine trawl, which eventually collapses completely.
