Gathering information on bottom longline fishing for Greenland halibut in Greenland
Overseas Fellowship Program Participant：FY2023 First Call Short-Term Program
Kenzo Tanaka (Hokkaido University)
I collected information on the bottom longline fishery for Greenland halibut from July 28 to August 16, 2023. This fishery extends the longlines using steel plates called “kite” during the winter when the sea surface freezes and it is difficult to operate by boat. Although the information of this fishery has been described in past reports, there is no detailed information on this fishery. Therefore, through this project, I collected information that could only be obtained locally.
During our stay in Greenland, we interviewed local fishermen using questionnaires. Originally, we planned to conduct these interviews only in the Qaanaaq and Siorapaluk areas in northwestern Greenland. On the other hand, we took advantage of our flight hiatus, we conducted interviews in western Ilulissat as well. we could obtain interesting results, such as that the shape of kites and the structure longlines differed from region to region, and that this was due to differences in the scale and approach to fishing.
I was able to gain valuable experience through the support of the ArCS II Young Researchers Overseas Fellowship Program. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone involved.