“A decade or two ago there were 120-130 large fishing vessels in the Icelandic fleet, and today we are down to a fleet of around fifty larger and more sophisticated vessels instead. The new Sólberg is a perfect example, with one new trawler replacing two older ones.”

As the fleet has changed, so have the sensors, and Thórir Matthíasson said that trawls are no longer decked with as many sensors as in the past, which is largely due to the developments in sensor technology that make modern sensors into multi-purpose pieces of equipment.

“We are seeing fewer sensors, but a lot more functions.”

“We'll be at IceFish this year, as usual,” he said, commenting that the ScanBas 365 simulator that they have in the office for skippers to try out will be on the stand.

“We're sure there will be plenty of interest in this and we'll have it there at the exhibition.”

The new Scanbas 365 control system is Scanmar's flagship product, replacing the old ScanBas system that has been in use for around fifteen years.

Designed from scratch, the ScanBas 365 uses a Windows environment, providing each user with a personal user profile.

“We started presenting this to the industry in Iceland last year and the response has been extremely positive. We have sold and installed several of these systems, and the skippers like the innovations we have introduced to this as it shows exactly what their fishing gear is doing.”