As a fish in the sea
A group of staff members of the Higher Laboratory Education (HLO) have personally twisted the ‘taking a walk at dawn’(dauwtrappen) during Ascension Day this year into something new; in the early morning seven men and two women aimed for the sea to fish for codfish.
Wreckfishing
In jargon it’s called ‘wreckfishing’, as the codfish is mostly found near wrecks. The captain tracks the wrecks via echolocation and when that’s done the only thing left to do is to throw the lead and bait down as soon as possible, as the ship can float away from the wrecks in five minutes. So catch that fish quickly.
Good catch
The whole group had a good catch as tens of fishes stuck to the fish-hooks.
Undersized fish have been released, under supervision of biologist Jos Steens. Also other matters were solved animal-friendly: The fish was killed before releasing the hook. ‘We see it as food’, says Nick van Biezen, who organised the event and received a warm welcome at home with twelve giant codfish.
The fun of fishing
What is the fun in fishing? Nick: ‘ I always say: it’s meditation for men. I sometimes stand on the beach for six hours with a fishing rod in my hand.’ And it is the primitive instinct, for women as Nicole Jacobs as well, as can be seen in the picture. Nick: ‘She was as fanatical as the men, although I had to kill the fish actually.’
A great success, obviously. When it comes to Nick, a ship full of HAN-fishermen will aim for the open sea next year. The fishermen can come from across the HAN, even from the Board of Governers (CvB). ‘Ron Bormans seems like a good fisherman. He is invited,’ says Nick.
