ANNONCER
Iceland’s seamen’s strike has come to an end with an agreement reached between owners’ federation SFS and unions representing engineers and some crews. The fleet is making its way back to sea as proposed strike action has been postponed or called off.
The Icelandic fleet hauled and steamed home last week as the Seamen’s Union came out on strike on 10th November. Since then the fleet has been tied up as negotiations came to an end before the weekend.
It’s now ten years since Icelandic fishing gear manufacturer Hampiðjan introduced its Dyneema-construction trawl warps as an alternative to conventional steel wire rope. Now the company’s developers have come up with a way to combine warps with power supplies, making it possible to route both energy and signals to the fishing gear via the warps.
Negotiations between the Icelandic Seamen’s Union (SSI) and vessel operators’ federation SFS came to an end last night without agreement having been reached. The fleet collectively hauled its gear at 2300 last night and sailed for home. The strike does not extend to the inshore fleet.
Neskaupstaður company Síldarvinnslan has had a busy few months since the start of the mackerel season in mid-July. This season’s landings have totalled close to 69,000 tonnes.
Icelandic processors’ organisation SFÚ (Samtök fiskframleiðenda og útflytjenda), which represents independent processors and exporters, was held last week and chairman Jón Steinn Elíasson was re-elected. SFÚ also took a firm stance at its AGM on the current threat of strike action by fishermen, backing the fishermen in their demands.
The migration of Icelandic summer-spawning herring has yet to be properly located, in spite of the pelagic fleet searching for fish over a wide area west of Iceland.
Iceland’s early winter herring season is under way, with pelagic vessels fishing on Icelandic summer-spawning herring off the west coast.
Iceland’s National Association of Small Boat Owners (NASBO) has elected a new chairman.
Icelandic processor Vinnslustöðin hf. í Vestmannaeyjum (VSV) has opted for blast freezing technology at its pelagic processing plant in the Westmann Islands.