After a tough January with an apparently endless string of low-pressure systems making their way across the Atlantic, Iceland is again set to be battered by a few more days of heavy weather, and much of the fishing fleet is seeking shelter, while Coast Guard vessel Thór is heading for the Westfjords.
The fleet of fishing vessels operated by east coast fishing company Síldarvinnslan and its subsidiary Bergur-Huginn is already alongside. Smáey docked in the Westmann Islands with 50 tonnes of redfish after a short trip, and Bergey has just landed a full trip. They expect to remain tied up until Sunday at the earliest.
Bergey’s skipper Jón Valgeirsson said that fishing has been fine, but now the weather has brought everything to a halt.
‘We were fishing off Ingólfshöfði and off Hornafjörður, and there’s fine fishing everywhere,’ he said.
‘Catches have been mainly cod, saithe, haddock and plaice. The new trawler is working well and we have nothing to complain about. But there’s some crazy weather ahead on Friday and it’s going to be foul on Saturday so it doesn’t look like we’ll be sailing until Sunday.’
Síldarvinnslan’s trawlers Gullver and Blængur have also headed home due to the weather outlook.
‘But we can see the winter season coming up and that’s always something we look forward to,’ Jón Valgeirsson said. ‘That’s the best time of the year – it’s as simple as that.’
