HB Grandi’s fresher trawler Viðey docked in Reykjavík yesterday morning, a day ahead of schedule. The reason? Excellent fishing on the company trawlers’ home grounds.
According to skipper Jóhannes Ellert Eiríksson – known to everyone as Elli – for this trip he took Viðey to the Mountains and the Eldey Bank.
‘The seasonal fishing is coming to an end and the fish are moving off the spawning areas. There has been some very good fishing and the only problem is to co-ordinate fishing with the needs of production ashore,’ he said.
Viðey docked with between 160 and 170 tonnes for its trip, of which half is saithe.
‘There’s a lot of saithe to be caught on the redfish grounds, which means on the Mountains, but we try to avoid golden redfish. There’s less cod now on our traditional fishing grounds, but the trawlers have been fishing well south of the Glacier. There has clearly been a lot of fish in Breiðafjörður this winter but now it’s moving out and will show up further north as the fish seek feed,’ he said, adding that there’s every chance that the fishing will take Viðey northwards to the Westfjords grounds after the Seamen’s Day layover during the first weekend in June.
