ANNONCER
Iceland Responsible Fisheries (IRF) is participating in ICEFISH 2011, promoting the IRF programme, the certification and the way forward in marketing of Icelandic seafood.
There has been some strong fishing on mackerel through August, so HB Grandi’s pelagic vessels are already close to finishing their mackerel quotas. According to Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson at the company’s pelagic division, there remains only around 2000 tonnes to be caught.
Traceability and marine scales will be the focus for Marel at this year‘s DanFish International fisheries exhibition, to be staged in Aalborg, Denmark, from October 12 – 14.
Total value 56.5 billion ISK
Total value of catch of Icelandic vessels amounted to 56.5 billion ISK in January-May 2011, compared with 57.6 billion ISK in the first five months of 2010. Total value decreased therefore by 1.8% between years.
Marel headquarters in Garðabær was the setting today for a visit by Brazilian minister for fisheries and aquaculture, Luiz Sérigode Oliviera.
So far this season around 10,000 tonnes of mackerel and herring products have been frozen at HB Grandi’s pelagic factory in Vopnafjördur, or approximately 3000 tonnes more than at the same time last year. This increase is particularly remarkable in that landings have been lower this year than last summer, mainly because Faxi RE was not able to start fishing until the early part of this month while undergoing a refit, while Ingunn AK and Lundey NS have been active in the fishery since June.
The new refrigerated sea water (RSW) system that was fitted on board Faxi RE this summer has already proved its worth according to Magnús Róbertsson, production manager at HB Grandi’s Vopnafjördur factory. He said that Faxi’s crew quickly got to grips with the new system and it is resulting in better catch quality and higher export values.
Total catch of Icelandic vessels in July 2011 was 103,531 tonnes compared to 116,942 tonnes in July 2010.
HB Grandi’s pelagic factory at Vopnafjördur will be running at full capacity this weekend freezing herring and mackerel, in spite of this being a Bank Holiday weekend in Iceland, and according to Magnús Róbertsson, in charge of production, there is no slowing of the pace expected until the autumn when the mackerel and herring quotas are expected to be finished.
As the sea temperature rises east of Iceland, so it seems that the mackerel are increasingly abundant. Arnthór Hjörleifsson, skipper of HB Grandi’s pelagic vessel Lundey NS, says that there have been some significant changes in the last few days and the water temperature has risen by 2.5°C in a fairly short time.
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