Some say it’s the worst feeling in the world. You just want to lay down and would even give everything to make it stop. A friend said that there where two stages of sea sickness. In stage one you start to believe you are going to die and in stage two you begin to want to die. 

But here are some advise to prevent sea sickness or make it more bearable.

1. Ginger. Some say ginger can prevent nausea and ease the stomach. 

2. View. Make sure that your always looking at the horizon. That way our brain can communicate with your eyes and prevent you from getting sea sick .

3. Location. If you have to be inside the boat make sure you stay as low and closest to the center of the boat. 

4. Food. Avoid sour food as lemons and oranges. Also avoid oily food such as butter, bacon and dairy cream. Try banana, apples or grapes. Cool water is also essential. Smoking or any use of tobacco will make you even more sick

5. Sleep. Sleeping is probably one of the best medicine for sea sickness.  Some people falls a sleep feeling really bad but wakes up with no discomfort at all.

6. Remedies. Our local drug store probably has variety of travel sickness tablets. Most of them will make you sleepy and even light headed but that is way better than being sick.  

You might want to ask why I pretend to be an expert in sea sickness. Well I am. I have been sea sick for 17 years. I started being sick the first time I went on a commercial fishing boat at the age of 15. I was sick for a week but for some strange reason I kept on going. After a while I only felt sick for the first 24 hours but I never got better after that. If I take a brake for one week or more I always feel it the first day I’m out on the water. 

Thank you for reading. 

Thorsteinn Masson

We were trying to find a video showing halibut fishing for our Twitter friend @ishearer99 and came across this interesting video. 

A short documentary following the crew on a small Icelandic long-liner. We can see how it is done and what happens underwater on the seafloor. 

We got a question from our Twitter friend James Smith ( @JJAMIE55 ) about which type of bait is the best and in what dept are the best fishing grounds. 

This is a good question but a tough one to answer. 

In Iceland for example, squid, mackerel and saury  are popular as bait for Cod and Haddock fishing. Herring is also popular as bait. 

The best depth for fishing can be almost any depth. Common depth for longline fishing is from 20 fm down to 200 fm  It all depend on what kind of fish you are after. Greenland Halibut is usually caught on deeper waters than Haddock for example. 

I hope that answer your questions James and many thanks for asking    

Icelandic fishermen on board Thor HF putting there work on hold to save a “grumpy” seal. The seal was accidentally caught in the trawl. The video is in Icelandic but you’l get the picture :)

Icelandic fishermen are use to getting paid more if the cod is bigger. But this is chancing according to the Icelandic fish markets. 

1-17 February the biggest cod (8kg+) were sold on 1,8 euro while smaller Cod (5-8kg) were sold on 2,8 euros per kg

The big Cod is usually used to make Bacalao (salted fish) mainly for markets in south Europe. After the crisis consuming of Bacalao dropped as well as the price. 

Fish factory’s in Iceland are now focusing more on the fresh and frozen fish market’s an in the USA

So now big Cod doesn’t necessarily mean bigger pay-check  like it use to for Icelandic fishermen.

Hello Esther and thanks for your question. First of all I want to make clear that I am no expert on the EU fishing policy but I try to keep up as much as I can. 

As you might know the Icelandic system allow no throw back (except for live halibut) but some of the EU fishing regulation forces the fishermen to throw back some species and some small fish. But the EU is currently addressing this problem. But Iceland has reduced the throw back of small fish by letting fishermen come back with the small fish with out subtraction of their quota. And the market is helping in some way as the smaller fish is getting more valuable so  there is no gain in throwing it back. 

My answer is: The EU is not doing the right in matter of smaller fish being thrown back in to the water but they are addressing the problem as we speak. 

I hope that I answered your Question Esther and if I did not or if you want to know more. Please let me know  

Kind regards. Thorsteinn Masson

Scientist at the Icelandic MRI have claimed for some years  that the Halibut stock is in danger and something has to be done. 

The Icelandic government decided last year that after 2011 direct Halibut fishing is forbidden and all live halibut brought on board as a by-catch must be put back after being caught. Halibut that is already dead has to be sold on a fish-market and 80% of the price go the government. 20% to the fishermen and boat owners.

This measure is taken so fishermen cant profit from Catching only “dead” halibut. 

Most of the Halibut coming from Iceland is a by-catch. Meaning that most of it is caught wile seeking for other fish. But a few boats did use long line, special designed for Halibut-fishing which is now forbidden. 

This dose not apply for the Greenland Halibut.  

Catch of the day. And my daughter seems to like it :)

Owners of Seniors a UK based restaurant won the 2012 fish & chips award

It’s interesting to know that fish & chips has 34% less calories than an average chicken meal and has 42% less fat than your average Kebab. 

It’s also nice and flattering for us Icelanders to know that most off Icelandic haddock that goes to the UK is used in England’s national dish, the legendary fish & chips.   

So here might be a recipe for the best fish & chips in the world:

Icelandic fish. British traditional recipe, fries, vinegar and mashed peas :)  

picture source