Longline

Longlines were developed from handlines. They are much more effective, but more difficult and expensive to operate. A serious problem in the early days of longline use was also to get fresh bait, otherwise the longline would be of no use. They are therefore used on larger boats, mainly decked vessels. The first reference to the use of longline in Icelandic waters was in 1482. However, the use of longlines was always limited until the 19^th century when decked sailing boats became common. In the early 20^th century, when proper cooling and later freezing facilities for the bait became available, the longline became the most important groundfish fishing gear in Icelandic waters. Catches by longline even surpassed trawl catches for long periods. The longline was the most commonly used groundfish gear by the decked boats until the 1960´s, when gillnets were increasingly used during the spawning season. However, longlines have in fact again surpassed gillnets in popularity among fishermen. Longlines are used throughout the year, but catches are lowest during the summer.

The longlines used in Iceland are almost exclusively bottom longlines, not pelagic. The only exceptions are minor fisheries targeting porpeagle sharks from 1959 to 1962 and Japanese boats fishing for blue-fin tuna in the southern extreme of the Icelandic EEZ from 1997 to 2005.

As for most other fishing gear, the longline fishery has become increasingly mechanized in recent years. Baiting and other parts of the longlining process are now commonly done automatically at sea by machines. The longline fishery can be split into traditional shallow and recent deep-water fisheries. Cod and haddock are the primary targets in shallow water fisheries, but Atlantic catfish, tusk and ling are also commonly caught. The main species fished in deep waters are Greenland halibut and redfish. The deep-water boats are much fewer, larger and more mechanized than those involved in shallow-water fisheries. Specialized bottom longlines are also used to target Greenland shark and halibut, using much larger hooks. Mobile longlines (troll lines) are not used in Iceland.

Longlines may be as long as 20 km and have up to 16,000 hooks. The longline is usually left on the bottom for one to four hours. The bait is most often herring, mackerel, capelin or squid pieces and lately artificial bait. Imported saury (Cololabis saira) and sandeels are also popular. One of the major benefits of using the longline is that it can be used on rough ground where other types of fishing gear cannot be operated. Another benefit from using longlines versus many other types of fishing gear is that the fish are usually alive when the line is hauled into the boat. Therefore longline caught fish have a reputation for freshness.

References and further information

References: (Gunnarsson et al. 1998), (Kristjánsson 1983), (Þór 2002), (Þór 2003), (Þór 2005)

For full citation and further information on fishing gear see this page.

Hörður Sævaldsson / Hreiðar Þór Valtýsson University of Akureyri