The Icelandic fleet fishing for mackerel has shifted well offshore, following a spell of good catches in home waters.
At the weekend Barði landed 1400 tonnes of mackerel caught in international waters, which is now being processed as wholefrozen or H&G fish at the Neskaupstaður factory.
‘Towards the end of the trip we were close to the northern extremity of the international zone, and when we set off for home, we had a 520 nautical mile steam ahead of us. Now the fleet is fishing even further north,’ said Barði’s skipper Thorkell Pétursson.
‘The fish are really moving fast. They were heading north while we were at sea, but now I hear they’re heading east towards the Norwegian line. Fishing has been variable. Sometimes you have to search for fish, and sometimes there’s heavy fishing. This was starting just as we were heading for home. Börkur had a 550 tonne haul, and Beitir had no less than 1000 tonnes in one tow. The gear must have been heavy, but they have have been able to cope with that,’ he said before Barði sailed, adding that the available quota is starting to run low.
‘It’s goes quickly when fishing is the way it’s been over the last few days.’
According to production manager Grétar Örn Sigfinnsson, some adjustments had to be made to cope with the volume of catches over the weekend, with Börkur routed to the Faroes to land 2100 tonnes while Beitir is heading to Neskaupstaður with 1500 tonnes on board. The two Samherji pelagic vessels operating in co-operation with the Síldarvinnslan fleet, Vilhelm Thorsteinsson and Margrét, are still on fishing grounds.
