Síldarvinnslan’s pelagic vessel Börkur landed 2100 tonnes of blue whiting in Neskaupstaður yesterday, and was back to sea as soon as discharging was complete. The company’s other vessels have also been fishing well as the year approaches its end.
Börkur’s landing follows 1600 tonnes landed by Bjarni Ólafsson and a 2000 tonne landing by Beitir a few days previously.
Börkur’s mate Leifur Thormóðsson commented that they had spent twelve days at sea and it hadn’t been an easy trip.
‘Fishing was slow and there was heavy weather that stopped us fishing,’ he said. ‘We caught our fish in nine hauls and towed for around 24 hours.’
Skipper Runólfur Runólfsson on Bjarni Ólafsson said that their trip had been nine days and their fish had been caught around 80 nautical miles east of the Faroe Islands.
‘We spent one whole day searching and we took six hauls. Normally we towed for 20 hours and the fish are only to be had in the dark. Weather has been bad on the fishing grounds and there are heavy currents, so generally poor conditions for fishing,’ he said, adding that this was their last trip of the year.
Beitir’s 2000 tonnes of blue whiting were also caught in Faroese waters and skipper Tómas Kárason said that theirs had also been a long trip.
‘The weather held us up quite a bit. We also laid up in the Faroes for twelve hours. Fishing has been patchy, sometimes good and sometimes less good. We had eight hauls and these were long tows, the longest was 30 hours. The best haul was 450 tonnes and we went down to 100 tonnes,’ he said, commenting that they started 80-90 nautical miles north-east of the Faroe Islands before shifting southwards to finish the trip.
