A major survey of pelagic stocks on North Atlantic fishing grounds is underway with Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland participating.
Pelagic vessels M Ytterstad and Vendla sailed from Bergen a few days ago on the survey that began on the 1st of July to cover three million square kilometres of ocean.
Faroese pelagic vessel Tróndur í Gøtu has been chartered for the Faroese contribution. Iceland is supplying research vessel Árni Friðriksson and another Faroese pelagic catcher, Finnur Friði, has been chartered by the Greenland government for the duration of the survey.
In addition to mapping mackerel distribution, the vessels will also carry out acoustic stock estimates of blue whiting and trawling for blue whiting in deeper water, with the objection of establishing a basis for stock assessment and advice to ICES.
‘It will be interesting to find out how mackerel are distributed geographically within these vast areas, and whether we get a solid and representative survey of blue whiting’ said expedition co-ordinator Leif Nøttestad.
‘We will also monitor the NVG-herring and salmon in the Norwegian Sea, as well as temperature and plankton conditions. Whale sightings will be recorded along the way to help understand the ecological relationships. Overall, we try constantly to acquire more and more knowledge about these unique and highly productive marine ecosystems.’
