Síldarvinnslan’s factory trawler Blængur had a successful 2023, with a green weight catch of 7570 tonnes, which puts it ahead of any other trawler operating from the eastern region of Iceland.
Blængur was acquired by Síldarvinnslan in 2015 and since then has twice exceeded a 7000 tonne catch for a year, although the proportions have varied and in those previous top years redfish accounted for a higher proportion of the total.
The 2023 catch composition was 1300 tonnes of cod, just short of 1100 tonnes of haddock, approximately 1500 tonnes of saithe and 1700 tonnes of redfish, plus 900 tonnes of Greenland halibut and 1000 tonnes of silver smelt.
This year has already got off to a strong start, with a 40-day trip broken in mid-January for a half-landing of mainly frozen saithe and haddock products.
Blængur was built in 1974, originally as fresher trawler Ingólfur Árnason for BÚR, and subsequently became freezer trawler Freri, operated by Ögurvík. It was acquired by Síldarvinnslan in 2015 and was extensively refitted as it became Blængur.
