Gudlaugur Jónsson, skipper of HB Grandi’s purser-trawler Ingunn AK, expressed the first hand report about herring fishing. He said that it is as awkward as it can get because the situation is blowing hard constantly off the sea and the herring are right off the shore. He said that they were in the Kidey Sound, half a ship’s length off an island and while the marks they are seeing look good, it’s very hard to manoeuvre there.
According to the information Ingunn had then been on the herring grounds for 24 hours under tough conditions, with a 20m/sec north or north-easterly wind and a heavy current, but in spite of these difficulties. It is said that Gudlaugur and his crew have managed to fill Ingunn’s tanks with 1000 tonnes of fish in two shots. He explained that the tide’s rising now. This is what’s making things awkward and it makes it a real headache to handle the fishing gear.
Gudlaugur Jónsson said that the herring they have caught so far is good-sized fish. Ingunn has another 500 tonnes to catch to take the quota, and he said that he had every expectation that this would be achieved quickly, as he brought our conversation to a rapid end when a tempting mark appeared on the sonar in a good place to shoot the seine.
