Freezer trawler Höfrungur III AK docked in Reykjavík yesterday morning after a 24-day trip. Skipper Haraldur Árnason is satisfied with the results and said that he is particularly pleased with the excellent fishing on saithe on the Selvogur Bank.
‘We sailed on the 20th of March and started fishing on the Eldey Bank. There had been some good saithe fishing there for a few weeks but that was slowing down by the time we arrived on the scene. So we moved off into the Skerja Deeps and the Little Bank to search for redfish and silver smelt,’ he said, adding that the next stop was the Selvogur Bank.
‘We were in the same area a year ago and then we had nothing but cod and haddock with hardly a saithe to be seen. This time there was plenty of large saithe to be had and the catch rates were very good. When it felt like the saithe was slowing down, we started seeing haddock instead. Cod wasn’t a problem where we were, although there are colossal amounts of cod further west and plenty of cod to be found 24 miles off Surtur and away to the east.’
Haraldur Árnason said that they had done a half-landing after sixteen days at sea, and at that point their catch was 560 tonnes of raw fish. From there they started fishing again on the Hampidjan Roundabout, but catch rates weren’t good enough to make it worth staying there for long.
‘Now we’re back in the Skerja Deeps on deep redfish and silver smelt. We’re getting around a tonne per towing hour and this is out last tow,’ Haraldur Árnason said.
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