A very important issue for us/me is proof that the trawlers are keeping to the boundaries set by the “state.”
This is important because the companies involved think it is – could be because if they harvest out of bounds then they are guilty of breaking a bond – the bond is the idea that seaweed trawling is ecologically sound.
If youve read any articles on this site you will understand that it clearly is not but i dont think many state officials read my posts, but they do read the newspapers and that is something they very much want to avoid because it could jepardise the already fragile harvesting rights.
My little group has already won a case against the trawlers for fishing illegally so another would be quite a coup though what i want is the destructive industry to cease entirely.
The Trawling lanes are something ive had quite a bit of experience with, i know where they are.
The maps are on the Fiskeriedirektoratets home page. The FDR is the Norwegian regulatory body that enforces the laws and regulations appertaining to any marine harvesting/fishing.
Here is a snip of the lanes directly outside the area i live in
this was a snip from the fiskeriedirektoratets website 2019 – that is 7 years ago – it should be no difficulty in working out when these sites were harvested because they are once in a 5 year cycle.
This time a littie visit to Askevågen rather sho0k me – i could clearly see 2 seaweed trawlers fishing in 2 harvesting zones beside each other. The next few days i filmed one of the trawlers fishing in yet another zone beside the other 2 – a clear breach of the law.
A call to the FDR and i was told the gps coordinates id given were correct but the trawlers were not fishing, they were waiting for a cargo ship.
This is Tarehav harvesting outside Male.
This is Tarebas harvesting just in front of me
And this is the cargo ship they were “waiting” for.
With all hatches open clearly waiting for them
How did the fiskeriedirektoratet know the seaweed trawlers were not harvesting?
I was told by their official that they could tell from their secret ais monitoring system.
Clearly this was not true – how did he know they were waiting for a freight boat, clearly not from ais tracking – because then he would know it was already there – no he had been told and the only people who knew exactly what was going on would have been the seaweed trawlers themselves.
An interesting little thing is that the Trawlers agreed to tracking only if it was kept secret – could that be because they harvest regularly in places they are not supposed to, that are out of bounds – clearly the FDR are not keeping track of them at all – all the convictions i know about for fishing illegally have come from private individuals – not the FDR themselves. So it is clear why they agreed to tracking and why only the FDR has access.
Incedentally nearly all the seaweed trawlers are 14.5 meters long because eu law states that 15 or over has to have ais tracking – the trawlers only have ais tracking because of the controversy involved.
Here is Tarebas fishing near Rotvika a few days later.
AHAAAA i have a case and from the first day of checking.
So after being contacted by the FDR i was urged to check the maps on their website and this is what i found
The seaweed trawling lanes have been changed from south to North to east to west. There was even a little post on the site saying page updated a week or so after i had contacted the FDR – but i felt that if this was so important to them i would only dig myself into a hole if i pursued it further.
I understand the industry is desperate for raw material – that is why they send cargo ships 1400 km to collect the material (there is not enough between here and the deppo at Haugesund near Oslo) – presumably that is also why they changed the direction of the harvesting zones. This is collusion – they are supposed to be regulating the harvesters, not actively helping.
Nearly 50% of the massive seaweed beds of laminaria on the Norwegian coast are empty – they say it is global warming but then the uk where seaweed trawling is not allowed would be the same – if you read the articles on this site you will learn what happens after the seaweed trawlers have been and why so much of the seaweed beds have dissapeared.
Seaweed trawling on the Norwegian coast is for harvesting the big Laminaria Hyperborea for the production of Alginate.
Alginate has a lot of uses but mainly in food.
The industry is run by massive American Corporations who seem to care little about the marine environment – supported by Norwegian Marine biologists who are not afraid to stretch the truth.
From an Ai
Key Findings on Prosecutions for Illegal Seaweed Trawling in Norway
- Hustadvika Case (Confirmed Illegal Trawling):
- Details: At a 2013 meeting in Trondheim organized by the “Stopp Taretråling” group, a case of illegal seaweed trawling at Hustadvika was discussed. This is noted as the first and only proven case of illegal seaweed trawling in Norway at the time. The incident involved a trawler operating in a restricted area, attributed to poor mapping rather than intentional misconduct.
- Outcome: Ole Damm, a representative from the Fisheries Directorate, explained that the incident was due to navigational errors and supported the trawler crew, stating they were not acting maliciously. No specific fines or prosecutions were detailed, and one of the skippers involved retired shortly after. There’s no indication of formal legal penalties beyond the acknowledgment of the violation.
- This from an AI – there was a prosecution and there was a fine – the case only went through because we filmed a state official lying.
