Since 1978, the Faroe Islands fishing vessel owner and operator Beta has carried out a large number of ocean going harvesting operations. On well more than 2,000 sequential fishing trips, spanning over a period of more than 25 years, Beta has trawled for the same species in the same fishing grounds northeast off the Faroe Islands, using a static fleet throughout that period. While the company’s trawlers today have been replaced by new and more modern ones, all the business documents relating to the trawler operations have been recorded and kept on file, partly in digital format. The files consist of all the various business documents of an integrated commercial fishing enterprise, e.g. invoices of fish sales, landing expenses, crew’s share, provisions, spare parts, fuel, and fishing gear, as well as log books, financial statements, business contracts and agreements, various applications, correspondence with various organizations, government agencies and private persons, in addition to operational statistics and reports including tables, drawings, and calculations, to name some.
Assuming that the files contain data which could be significant as a potential base of research material, Beta decided to keep the files for future references; lately the company decided to make the files available for scientists, students and other researchers who may find some of the stored data useful for their work. Still overseeing the
continued filing of the company’s trawler operations documents, Beta co-founder and long-time chief executive, Olaf Olsen has placed great emphasis on building a well-ordered archive to allow for the possibility of scientific processing of data. As it is the intention to help facilitate references to empirical facts from amply documented experience, the hope is to succeed in presenting what some believe may constitute a valuable information resource for those eager to know.