Fishing for blue whiting in Faroese waters has slowed down considerably in recent weeks.
Pelagic vessel Bjarni Ólafsson landed its last trip for the time being at Síldarvinnslan’s fishmeal factory in Seyðisfjörður at the weekend, with 1770 tonnes pumped ashore.
‘The fishing has really slowed down recently and we’ve stopped for the moment,’ said skipper Runólfur Runólfsson.
‘We have a dry-docking booked and we’ll be at the shipyard for three weeks. The gearbox is getting an overhaul and it’s time for a paint job. The blue whiting season started in mid-April and began well, but it hasn’t been an easy place to fish. The weather has often been against us and there are heavy currents that don’t make fishing easy. Of course, there have been spells of good weather, but it’s often been lousy.’
Hákon has just landed 1740 tonnes in Neskaupstaður and Beitir landed 1900 tonnes in Seyðisfjörður. Börkur is about to dock with 2250 tonnes on board.
‘It’s the mackerel fishery next,’ Runólfur Runólfsson said.
‘I hear that the mackerel search should start early this year. If I recall correctly, we started searching last year around 20th June. I expect we’ll be out around the same time this year.’
Image: Húnbogi Sólon Gunnthórsson
