The first blue whiting of 2026 has been landed to Síldarvinnslan’s Neskaupstaður plant as Greenlandic pelagic vessel Polar Amaroq delivered 2000 tonnes caught in Faroese waters.
Iceland and the Faroe Islands have yet to conclude a reciprocal fisheries agreement for this year, and this is eagerly awaited by pelagic operators in Iceland. Some of the fleet had already been sea so as to be ready to start fishing as soon as the negotiation results are confirmed. These included Beitir and Börkur, which subsequently returned to Neskaupstaður when it became apparent that there would be a delay in hammering out the terms of this year’s agreement. Other Icelandic vessels have waited it out in Faroese ports.
Now Beitir and Börkur are back at sea, in anticipation of a deal being announced at any moment.
Polar Amaroq’s skipper Geir Zoëga reported that he had been fishing south of the Faroe Islands where there was plenty of fish to be seen.
‘The catch was taken in four short tows and the fish is really excellent. We were fishing in fine weather weather until conditions worsened towards the end. The steam to Neskaupstaður was comfortable until we were close to land, where the weather took a turn for the worse and we were rolling pretty heavily,’ he said.
As well as Polar Amaroq, Greenlandic company Polar Pelagic operates Polar Ammassak which is expected to participate in the upcoming capelin survey.
