The outlook is that pelagic vessels Faxi RE and Ingunn AK will start on Atlanto-Scandian herring around the 20th of this month, with Lundey NS expected to follow them at the end of June.
Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson, head of HB Grandi’s pelagic division, reports that all three vessels are undergoing maintenance before the new season starts. Faxi and Lundey are having their main engines overhauled while Ingunn is in port at Akranes.
‘We’re not in a hurry, even though there are reports of strong herring fishing north of Jan Mayen. So far the herring are still thin and not of the same quality as the herring we saw east of Iceland at the end of May and the earlier this month. There is a 400 nautical mile steam from Vopnafjördur to fishing grounds right now and we feel it’s better to wait until the fish are fatter and closer to home. Hopefully we’ll be able to catch something for the estimated 1.40 million tonnes of herring the Marine Research Institute surveyed east of Iceland in May,’ says Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson.
Source: HB Grandi
