The third issue of the newsletter of the European project FISHERNET: Fishing Cultural Heritage Network in which the Stefansson Arctic Institute is a partner, has now been published. This is a three year project funded by the European Union Culture Programme. Key participants in addition to Iceland are Galicia (Spain), Norway, Bulgaria, Cyprus, and the Orkneys (Great Britain). The object of the project is the preservation, dissemination and utilisation of cultural heritage connected with fisheries and the unique culture of coastal fishing communities. The Stefansson Arctic Institute contributes to the project in various ways but with a special focus on fishing cultural heritage in Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The Icelandic component is called 'Trossan' and can in part be observed through the website www. fishernet.is.

The FISHERNET newsletter provides stories and news from the various project partners, including an item on the Bulgarian Black Sea Lighthouses project tied in with the International Lighthouses Day, which will be celebrated during August 2010 around the world. So far 51 nations have registered for participation. There is also a story of the Slettnes Lighthouse in Finnmark, Norway, which started operating in 1905 and is the northernmost lighthouse on the European mainland. Today the lighthouse contains a café with exhibits to be found in the tower itself. The meeting of the FISHERNET project partners, which was held in Reykjavík, Siglufjörður, Húsavík and Akureyri in Iceland last May, is covered, including the international seminar 'The wealth of sea and coast: Initiatives, innovation and use of cultural heritage', which was formally opened by Mr. Kristján L. Möller, the Minister for Transport, Communications and Local Government.

The newsletter can be downloaded here.