Síldarvinnslan’s pelagic vessels Börkur and Beitir are about to make a start on the Icelandic fleet’s mackerel fishery.
While skippers Hjörvar Hjálmarsson and Tómas Kárason would prefer to fish for mackerel in home waters off the south-east of Iceland, they could find themselves going further offshore.
The pelagic vessels fishing for blue whiting in that area have already reported encouraging signs of mackerel.
‘We hope there will be fish to be found in that area, and our experience is that fish caught there is large and fine quality,’ Hjörvar Hjálmarsson said.
‘We have to bear in mind that it’s two hundred nautical miles further to steam to international waters than to these home grounds. But if there isn’t much to be found inside the EEZ, then we’ll be heading straight for the Loophole.’
