Busy trip expected to Hirtshals
 
Hampidjan will be holding its annual flume tank trip to the North Sea Centre at Hirtshals in Denmark to present its fishing gear. These tank trips have been a regular event for Hampidjan for many years. As well as demonstrating how the fishing gears function in the most realistic way possible, there are also lectures on the development of fishing gear and materials from the various suppliers that Hampidjan and its partners deal with.
‘By mid-November close to forty  guests had registered to take part, and they come from all over the world,’ Hampidjan’s sales and marketing manager Haraldur Árnason said.
‘There are, as usual, many representatives of Icelandic fishing companies, as well as guests from the Faroe Islands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Holland, the USA, Russia and South America. The guest list is still growing, and many skippers and vessel owners have a habit of taking the decision of whether or not to attend at the last moment. So much of this depends on their landing dates, so frequently we have a lot of people who will only register to take part a few days before it all happens.’

New Gloria and new capelin purse seine

According to Haraldur Árnason, this year the gear on display will be very varied.
‘Among the other innovations, we will be demonstrating the new Gloria 1760m Super Wide pelagic trawl designed for mackerel. This has been on the drawing board for a while and the spread is designed to be four times the vertical opening. Today these trawls tend to be made with dimensions of around one to three, so a trawl with a 45 metre vertical opening has a spread of around 160 metres between the wing ends. This new version will go to 215 metres between the wing tips, but with much the same vertical opening, and we hope that this will contribute to reduced by-catches of herring with the mackerel target species.’

‘We will also be taking the opportunity to demonstrate a capelin purse seine, which is something of a rarity. This purse seine design has attracted a lot of interest which is no surprise as it works extremely well, but now there are many of us who are excited to see what it looks like in the flume tank. Staff from DSM in Holland who manufacture Dyneema, will be on hand for a lecture about the development of these materials. Dynice Warps are made from Dyneema and these have become popular around the world. Finally, the guys from Thyborøn Trawl Doors will be there with a presentation on using pelagic doors with bottom gear, which is a method that is becoming increasingly popular in Europe and America,’ Haraldur Árnason said.
Participants from Iceland are scheduled to fly to Denmark on the 3rd of December and return on the 7th. Further information on the tank session and travel arrangements can be found at:

Hampidjan Flume tank workshop 2013_eng.pdf