Westman Islands fresher trawlers Bergur and Vestmannaey both landed full fishrooms twice last week, mid-week and again on Sunday – and sailed as soon as they had finished offloading.
Both skippers are satisfied with the results of these 36- to 48-hour trips, first landing mostly cod and haddock with some plaice in the middle of the week, and mainly cod, haddock and saithe at the weekend.
According to Bergur’s skipper Jón Valgeirsson, fishing is very good right now.
‘It’s no problem at all to find haddock and cod, but you have to search for other species. In the first trip we had some plaice. In the second trip we were on the Háa Deeps and Pétursey grounds and had a good showing of saithe, which is something to celebrate,’ he said.
‘We can’t complain about catch rates when it takes 36 to 48 hours to fill trawlers like these. We sailed after landing on Sunday and are fishing well now on the Vík grounds.’
Vestmannaey’s skipper Birgir Thór Sverrisson commented that they sailed on Sunday and hit good fishing right away, until the weather worsened, pushing them further to the west.
‘We’ve had some fine trips recently, mainly in the Háa Deeps and Pétursey grounds. The only challenge is getting the right catch composition,’ he said.
Image: Síldarvinnslan/Björn Steinbekk
