the future of the Island's fishing industry.

The four joined the crews of two Canadian boats licensed to use longlines within Bermuda's 200-mile exclusion zone.

And other Bermudians will take part in similar trips when the full fleet of seven boats arrives in St. George's this week.

Yesterday Stephen B and Renee and Trevor collected their crews and set off for the high seas. On board were Bermudians Mr. Bobby Lambe, Mr. Jason Payne, Mr.

Alan Mayne and Mr. Robert Richardson, the first batch of fishermen chosen from 20 applicants.

Captain of Stephen B and the man behind the licensing of the boats, Mr. Jim Redmond said it was part of the deal to take Bermudians on the boats. "None of the applicants have done this before,'' he said. "They have never gone out on the high seas, longlining.

"Big Bobby is one of the best-known young commercial fishermen here. He wants to learn from this trip and see how he can adapt it to his own circumstances.'' Mr. Lambe, 26, said: "Normally on a fishing trip we would go out for two days or three at the most. This will be a new experience. The whole idea of the trip is to understand what goes on and how the operation works.

"I think this is the future for fisheries in Bermuda. We must try to look at other things and this may be the way to go. It could take over in 10 to 15 years.'' The longline boats have lines more than 50 miles long with thousands of hooks, aiming to catch tuna for the Japanese market and swordfish for New England.

Mr. Alan Mayne said: "It is different because all we are used to is rod and reel and some vertical lines.

"I would say this would be the future for the industry. After all, the Japanese have been doing this for years.'' Mr. Mayne also believed the trip would be a good chance to learn new techniques.

The Canadians are expecting to be fishing for five months. Their largest boats, the 125-foot Atlantic Horizon and the 99-foot Atlantic Optimist , are expected today.

LONG HAUL AHEAD -- Mr. Bobby Lambe was yesterday among the first group of Bermudians to join Canadian fishermen on a longline experiment off Bermuda.