A Hajkutter, in Danish also Hajer, in German Haikutter, directly translated shark cutter, is a former Danish fishing cutter. However despite the term "haj" or "shark" in the labelling this ship type has nothing to do with catching sharks. Rather, these fishing cutters were the first in the Danish sea fishing industry to work with auxiliary engines. With their help, the fishing nets could be launched and taken in again independent from the wind and without action from dinghies using deck winches while at anchor. The motorization, first to drive the deck winches, then the dinghies and finally the cutter itself, was a decisive factor to the type of ship that we still know as the Hajkutter today.

The fishing technique that was used on the ships was also important for the development of the Hajkutter. The fishing net, a so-called Snurrewade, in Danish Snurrevod, is a ring-shaped net that was not dragged like a trawling net behind the ship. It was deployed in a ring and then pulled in over the bottom towards the anchored Hajkutter. That is why the Hajkutters are sometimes called Snurrewadenkutter or in Danish Snurrevodkutter. After a trip to the fishing site, usually under sail at first, one used on a Hajkutter the machine technology for deploying and retrieving the fishing net. This technical advantage brought that fishermen get better catches in less time, which is why the non-motorized colleagues give them the name Hajer. That wasn't meant nicely. These ships were "voracious like sharks" at the fishing site.

In the beginning, Hajkutters weren't any special. This is how all motorized cutters in the fishery with the Snurrevod were called around 1900. The increasing economic importance of sea fishing in Denmark after the turn of the century meant that more cutters were needed. A type of ship with a length of 12 to 18 meters, a pronounced sheer, a sharp underwater hull and a round, far overhanging stern became accepted. The typical hull shape is strongly influenced by pure sailing vessels of the 19th century. The material used was oak on wooden frames. The planking was carried out using the carvel construction method. Most of these ships originated between 1915 and 1935, among others at the Danish shipyards Ohlsen or Hjorne & Jacobsen in Frederikshaven, at the Nipper brothers or at Karstensen & Hinrichsen shipyards in Skagen or at N.P. Jensen shipyard in Esbjerg. About 8,000 cutters were in service in the Snurrevod fishery around 1950.

In the beginning, the Hajkutters were sailing ships with auxiliary engines, rigged as a cutter or ketch with a significantly smaller mizzen mast. Today there are also Hajkutters with a schooner rig. From the 1920s, sailing lost its importance compared to machine power. The stronger the machines became, the smaller the sails became, until they were finally abandoned entirely. Masts were repurposed to loading booms that were needed to hoist the fishing net or to unload the catch.

Most of the surviving Hajkutters now sail as recreational and traditional ships. Where the corf or the storage space for the catch has been, today the cabins and meeting rooms for fellow sailors are built in. This is how they keep functional and continue to be used and serve as living witnesses to the history of the Danish sea fishing.

Further reading

Volker Pesch:
"Der Haikutter und die dänische Seefischerei im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert",
Piekfall, Mitteilungsblatt für die Freunde des Gaffelriggs, Nr.99, 2009,
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