A survey carried out last week by two pelagic vessels off the east of Iceland has failed to return results that would support a quota for this winter’s capelin fishery.
Polar Ammassak and Aðalsteinn Jónsson co-operated with the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute to survey waters off eastern Iceland over the last few days of January. The aim was to repeat soundings of the main capelin migration to compare to those of the previous week.
The two vessels covered different tracks of the same area to generate independent survey results
According to the Institute, the results indicate a smaller stock than the previous week’s had, and provide no grounds to change the current zero-quota recommendation.
Research vessel Árni Friðriksson is expected to start a further survey off the north of Iceland in the coming days – but the outlook for a 2024-25 capelin season is looking increasingly dubious.
