Fishing for Atlanto-Scandian herring is in full swing and Síldarvinnslan’s Neskaupstaður plant has been able to maintain full production.
Vilhelm Thorsteinsson landed 1440 tonnes, closely followed by 1270 tonnes landed by Börkur, and Beitir is expected to be back alongside before Börkur’s catch has been discharged.
Börkur’s skipper Hálfdan Hálfdanarson said that they took their herring in five hauls, after towing 3-4 hours for each one.
‘This is as good as it gets,’ he said, adding that fishing grounds are close to home and the last tow of the trip was hauled just 60 nautical miles from Neskaupstaður.
‘This is large, fine-quality herring that has to be ideal raw material for production. Mostly 380-400 gram herring. Fishing like this is a luxury. Not far to steam, perfect weather and good fishing. The fish is very fresh when it gets to production – in fact as it’s as fresh as it could be. We’re doing 24-hour trips and then are tied up for four or five days before the next one. We can be happy that the herring are staying on these grounds, and that’s never a given,’ he said.
Processing is going well, according to production manager Jón Gunnar Sigurjónsson.
‘This is the best quality raw material we could hope for, as it’s being caught practically in our back garden. We’re producing skinless fillets, butterfly fillets and some wholefrozen,’ he said.
