An interactive large-screen video display at Fishing 2011 in Glasgow will beam live images into the exhibition hall from one of the few remaining flume tanks in the world.
The live video link between the flume tank at the North Sea Science Park in Hirtshals, Denmark, and the Fishing Expo will enable fishermen to troubleshoot and see at first hand their fishing gear in operation.
The demise of the Seafish flume tank in Hull several years ago has denied UK and Irish fishermen the first hand experience of using such a facility on their doorstep. But now this new video display at Fishing 2011 will give skippers a convenient opportunity to test different types of fishing gear and configurations in real-life simulated underwater conditions.
Respected and well-known gear technologist, Mike Montgomerie of Seafish, will host the interactive display that will provide fishermen with the opportunity to request the testing of various trawl set-ups – for example how the net performs using different types of trawl doors or when alterations are made to the centre wire in a twin-rig set-up.
The flume in Hirtshals, which is managed by SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture, is a massive circulating water tank where scale models of trawls used by fishermen are trialled underwater in a variety of different conditions that closely mirror situations commonly encountered in the marine environment. Seafish uses the flume tank for fishermen’s training courses with over 200 fishermen from all corners of the UK having visited Hirtshals in the last three years.
Mr Montgomerie said that fishermen will be able to pre-request the type of gear or alteration they would like to see incorporated and then this will be viewed live in simulated real-life underwater conditions on the large video screen in the hall.
