The capelin season in Icelandic waters is in progress, although there are currently no Icelandic vessels taking part in the fishery due to the ongoing seamen’s strike.
Several Norwegian pelagic boats are already fishing there on the Norwegian quota, Faroese vessels are on the way and Greenlandic pelagic vessel Polar Amaroq has also made a start with between 350 and 400 tonnes of large-sized, good quality capelin that are frozen on board.
According to Síldarvinnslan, Polar Amaroq caught its fish 54 nautical miles north-east of Langanes, and skipper Geir Zoëga said that they have been aware of some good capelin marks, which was something of a surprise considering the results of the recent research survey that Polar Amaroq was also involved in carrying out.
‘There’s always a feeling of optimism when you smell the capelin and we have heard that others have been aware of capelin off the north of Iceland. We’re hoping that the capelin season will be a lot better than we had been expecting,’ he said, adding that it is not easy to estimate the volumes of fish in the marks they can see, but in two hauls last night they had between 350 and 400 tonnes of capelin with a roe content of 10-11%.
A further effort in surveying the state of the capelin stock is being undertaken and a research vessel is on the way, and there are hopes that it may be possible to increase this year’s meagre quota.
