Now that HB Grandi’s pelagic fleet has finished its Atlanto-Scandian herring for the year, it is possible to put a value on this fishery, as well as this summer’s mackerel fishing. Between them, HB Grandi’s pelagic vessels took 50,000 tonnes of Atlanto-Scandian herring and mackerel this year, with a value of 1.60 billion Isl Kr.
According to Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson, head of HB Grandi’s pelagic division, Faxi RE, Ingunn AK and Lundey NS spent 290 days fishing on these stocks, with an average catch value per day of 5.50 million Isl Kr and an average kilo price of 32 Isl Kr/kg.
The bulk of these pelagic catches, around 40,000 tonnes, were landed in Vopnafjördur. 5700 tonnes were landed in Norway, 2000 tonnes in the Faroes and around 3000 tonnes in Eskifjördur. The herring was processed either for reduction or human consumption and most of the mackerel was processed as fishmeal.
‘We have 5000 tonnes left of the quota on Atlanto-Scandian herring, which we can carry over to next year,’ said Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson.
