The three pelagic vessels operated by Icelandic company Síldarvinnslan, Barði, Beitir and Börkur have finished their mackerel fishery for this year after searching in both international and Icelandic waters with little success.
Next on their agenda is Atlanto-Scandia herring, and the first landing of this was discharged by Hákon in Neskaupstaður a few days ago and production started on Saturday morning at the Síldarvinnslan plant.
‘We had 700 tonnes and the catch was taken in four hauls. We had hauls of 50 tonnes up to 290 tonnes for tows of between two and six hours. We didn’t have to go far and we finished fishing 22 nautical miles from Norðfjarðarhorn,’ said skipper Arnthór Pétursson.
‘We didn’t have to search at all, and had heard reports of herring there, and there are reports of herring over a wide area. The marks where we were fishing weren’t large, but they were easy to handle until a storm blew up right at the end.’
He commented that the herring has an average weight of around 370 grammes and is ideal for production.
‘The new Hákon will probably be delivered in October and is under construction at the Karstensen yard in Denmark. It’ll certainly be exciting to start fishing on such a magnificent new vessel,’ Arnthór Pétursson said.
Hákon was followed in to land by Börkur with the last of the mackerel, 260 tonnes – plus 480 tonnes of herring.
According to Börkur’s skipper Hjörvar Hjálmarsson, herring are to be found across fishing grounds east of Iceland.
