Over the last few days Síldarvinnslan’s pelagic vessels have been fishing exceptionally well, and are either alongside or on their way to discharge blue whiting.
Barði docked on Monday this week with 2100 tonnes, followed by Börkur with 3200 tonnes and Beitir with 3500 tonnes. So far this year Síldarvinnslan’s pelagic vessels have caught 37,000 tonnes of blue whiting, and have 22,000 tonnes of their quota remaining.
‘There’s a lot of fish on the move,’ said Barði’s skipper Thorkell Pétursson, commenting that they were fishing south and south-west of the Faroe Bank.
‘We had our catch in six tows of between four and twelve hours. The fleet is spread out, as there’s fish over a wide area.
Börkur’s skipper Hjörvar Hjálmarsson reported that they filled up in five hauls over two and a half days on the fishing grounds, with tows of between five and ten hours.
‘Hauls were from 450 tonnes up to around 900 tonnes,’ he said. ‘I don’t remember filling up in just five tows before. There’s a lot of fish over a wide area and it’s still migrating from the south into Faroese waters. This shows that the blue whiting stock is pretty strong, with a positive outlook for fishing in the future.’
Ólafur Gunnar Guðnason on board Beitir was also satisfied with their two days, plus a few hours,on the fishing grounds.
‘We took six short tows of three to six hours. Hauls were from 300 up to 650 tonnes. We were further to the north, so we had to use a groundfish separator in the trawl. It was mostly the Faroese fleet at work where we were,’ he said.
‘I’ve never seen fishing like it. It goes without saying that everyone on board is happy, as always when there’s good fishing.’
