Brim’s freezer trawler Vigri is fishing in the Víkuráll Gully area in some foul weather, according to skipper Árni Gunnólfsson, who said that conditions have been difficult every day since calling in Reykjavík on 20th January for a 690 tonne half-landing.
‘It’s a big difference to the fine weather we had for the first 17 days of the trip. We sailed on 2nd January from Reykjavík for the first trip of the year and started off the south-west, on the Toe and the Reykjanesgrunn grounds. There was some good fishing there. Then we shifted to the Westfjords and did well. We even went out to the Hampiðjan Square to try for Greenland halibut, but there was too much cod for comfort on those grounds,’ he said.
A storm was already blowing off the Westfjords by the time the half-landing was complete, so the choice went again to south-west grounds.
‘We had a look on the Reykjanesgrunn, but the weather worsened and there wasn’t much for it but to head back northwards to the Westfjords. We dodged for a while in the lee of Snæfellsnes during the worst of the weather off the Westfjords, and used the opportunity to catch a few tonnes of golden redfish,’ he said, as Vigri was on the Cat’s Back area of the Víkuráll Gully.
‘The weather is rough here, but there’s good fishing when we can get to work. There has been a long spell of bad weather on the Hali grounds, but the forecast for tomorrow and Friday looks good. We’ll make our way northwards along the bank and the plan is to get as much saithe as we can. We’ve caught around 200 tonnes since the half-landing, so we still have a few days to add a few tonnes to the total. We’re scheduled to land in Reykjavík on Tuesday next week,’ Árni Gunnólfsson said.
