The bourgeois promised that there would be no oil exploration in Vesterålen. But 19. September still starts seismic shooting at Andøya, with Statoil support. "Sneaky oil exploration," critics say. – Violation of the cooperation agreement, says Venstre. The Minister of Fisheries warns against blockade.
(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Environment.
– Seismic is dangerous for fish! Dot. People are so pissed off up here about the way we are treated by some actors, that the seismic ship can meet resistance if they come here.
This is what Yngve Larsen, leader of Andøy Fiskarlag, says to Ny Tid.
In September, the Norwegian Geological Survey (NGU) plans to conduct seismic shooting, financed by Statoil, among others, in the middle of Larsen's fishing fields and other fishermen on Andøya in Vesterålen. The fisherman has just come in from the sea where it is currently in the middle of the fishery. He says seismic shooting has a clear negative impact on saithe and other fish in the ocean. He refers to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate's shooting in 2007-09:
- As much as 90 percent of the fish disappeared. For me who fix saithe, the stock has never returned to the level it was before 2007, says Larsen.
He talks about day catches of 2-3000 kilos before 2007. For many of the boats, they had several times full cargo when they landed. It is no longer happening.
- The first-hand sales of fish from vessels to one of the fish farms here decreased in 2008 by approximately NOK 6 million in one year. That means six million kroner lost for local fishermen. The fish farm also lost on the negative turnover, so the total loss for both the fish farm and the fishermen was even higher. And there was only one reception, says Larsen.
Gun Shooting
Saithe – Pollachius virens – is a fish in the cod family and one of Norway's most important food fish. It is widespread in the North Atlantic and as far south as the Bay of Biscay. But seismic can have an impact on other important fish species such as cod and herring in the area.
- The research that has been done up here has been anything but comprehensive. For example, there has been no research on how seismic affects the saithe that I am fishing on now, says Larsen.
- How do you think the fish are harmed by this activity?
- The seismic cannons are towed at a depth of about 10 meters and fired downwards. This is exactly in the most vulnerable layer in the ocean. Here there are fry and larvae and fish about another. We know that the shooting is harmful to these within a 20 meter limit, and that it is fatal within a 5 meter limit, Larsen explains.
- So seismic is dangerous for the fish. Dot, says Larsen in Andøya Fiskarlag.
This is an excerpt from Ny Tid 15.08.2014. Read the whole by buying Ny Tid in newspaper retailers all over the country, or by subscribe to New Time -click here.
