Two of Brim’s factory trawlers are alongside in Reykjavík after completing long Barents Sea trips.
‘Fishing has been good and we were fortunate that we had fine weather practically the whole time. At its best we had a flat calm and 30° temperatures. On the other hand, it’s a long way to steam. We were roughly five days and night steaming up north to the Barents Sea’ said Eythór Atli Scott, skipper of factory trawler Vigri.
Another of Brim’s factory trawlers, Örfirisey, has also been fishing in the Barents Sea and followed close behind.
‘We had 30 days’ fishing and a green weight of 1030 tonnes. Most of the catch is cod, but we have a few tens of tonnes of haddock and catfish. Örfirisey has done better, but they can tow two trawls,’ he said, adding that they started fishing from the point the Russian observer came on board.
‘From there we worked our way eastwards and most of the time we were on the Goose Bank. We finished up on the Kilden Bank,’ he said.
‘The cod are more mixed sizes than we are used to seeing and it’s clear that there’s a younger year class making an appearance.’
He added that two other Icelandic trawlers, Arnar and Blængur, were also on the same grounds and the bridge teams work closely together, which leads to good results all round.
‘Plenty has changed since we started fishing in the Barents Sea. The Russians are now fishing with larger, more powerful trawlers, so there’s more activity,’ he said.
