HB Grandi’s fresher trawler Ásbjörn RE is steaming with a full fishroom of 150 tonnes of fish for sale at the Bremerhaven auction on the 5th of January. According to skipper Ólafur Einarsson, they have had to work hard for their catch over this trip as weather has been difficult the whole time. On Christmas Eve it was blowing so hard that he took the decision to seek shelter in the lee of Hólsberg near Keflavík.
‘I can say that the weather has been bad this trip. It has been a ten day trip, but for three of those days it wasn’t possible to shoot the trawl away. But on the other days the fishing was steady,’ Ólafur Einarsson said from Ásbjörn’s wheelhouse south of Reykjanes. Ásbjörn docked briefly in Reykjavík to take on fuel and stores before leaving for Germany yesterday morning.
He said that the trip was spent most on the Skerja Deeps where HB Grandi’s fresher trawlers spend much of their time and the catch they have to sell consists of good-quality golden redfish (Sebastes marinus), as well as 20 tonnes of saithe.
Ásbjörn was the only Icelandic trawler at sea over Christmas. With the decision to steam with a catch of fish to sell overseas, Ásbjörn is leaving Icelandic waters for the first time since the ship last landed a catch at a foreign market in 1994.
