Iceland’s capelin season has ground to a halt as quota are now short and research vessels head back to sea to search for a potential further migration. The industry has reacted with disappointment to the recommended quota for the season, as by the time the figures were released following the January surveys, much of the quota had already been caught.
Landings have mainly been made by foreign vessels catching their quotas in Icelandic waters, with four Norwegian pelagic vessels landing 2000 tonnes between them in Neskaupstaður at the weekend while others are waiting to start fishing. The Norwegian fleet has declared 19,000 tonnes so far and have 44,000 tonnes still to be caught.
Much of the Icelandic fleet has switched to blue whiting. HB Grandi’s two pelagic vessels have been fishing at the southern end of the Faroese EEZ on some slow but steady fishing, while Síldarvinnslan’s Beitir has landed a 1300 tonne trip in Neskaupstaður.
Only three Icelandic vessels are fishing for capelin at the moment, factory vessel Vilhelm Thorsteinsson and RSW vessels Ísleifur and Hoffell. Greenlandic vessel Polar Amaroq has been laid to in Reyðarfjörður freezing its catch.
‘We expect to discharge direct to a reefer on Wednesday,’ said skipper Geir Zoëga.
‘This is our sixth trip and we have caught 5199 tonnes. The season has gone well for us as we spent ten days n the survey with the Marine Research Institute. I’m sure the future is in commercial vessels taking part in research under the Institute and our co-operation with them has been excellent,’ he said, adding that there is a huge volume of capelin off the south-east coast.’
