Museum Highlights: Fish Finder

Everyone is waiting for #CapelinRoll2016! To find those fish we just watch the waves and see the capelin roll in. But what about when fishermen want to find other fish? A handy tool was a fish finder.

Fish finder [997.3.2]
This long, hollow, cone shaped device was used to find fish underwater. Both ends were flat, and the larger end (the bottom) would have a glass insert. The fisherman would hold the finder by the handle and insert the glass end just below the waves. This would allow the fisherman to look into the top end to see if there were any fish in the traps without having to haul up the trap.

The glass end (broken) of the fish finder [997.3.2]

Sometimes more modern methods can be used to check traps. For instance, it's not unheard of for fishermen in Holyrood to ask the Marine Institute students training to fly Remote Operated Vehicles to use the ROVs to check their traps!

The open end of the fish finder [997.3.2]

This particular fish finder belonged to Peter Roche and was donated to the museum by his son, Phil Roche.

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