The blue whiting fishery for the Síldarvinnslan fleet has come to a close for the time being, with the last landing to season to the company’s plant in Neskaupstaður earlier this week when Beitir delivered a 2000-tonne payload.
The Icelandic pelagic fleet has been busy with blue whiting in Faroese waters since the capelin season came to an end in March, initially in the grey zone, before shifting further north for some heavy fishing.
Síldarvinnslan’s Neskaupstaður plant has taken delivery of 34,100 tonnes of blue whiting and 27,600 tonnes have been landed to the company’s Seyðisfjörður factory. According to the company, the resulting fishmeal has been excellent quality, but at this time of year the oil yield is low.
As well as the company’s own pelagic vessels, Vilhelm Thorsteinsson, Margrét and Hákon have landed catches.
Although the season has ended for the local fleet, a final landing of 1800 tonnes has been made by Greenlandic pelagic vessel Polar Ammassak.
‘We were fishing east of the Faroes and had this in five hauls of between 250 and 400 tonnes. Fishing has slowed down considerably recently and we’ve been towng up to 18 hours. During this trip we saw the tows getting longer and catch rates lower. This is our last trip as we have to keep something back for the autumn,’ said skipper Guðmundur Hallsson.
‘Fishing for blue whiting has gone very well. We have been landing mainly in the Faroes and in Skagen. It’s a long steam to Skagen, plus there’s a queue to land. Next is the mackerel fishery and we’ll be getting ready for that.’
