‘We were on the grounds at seven this morning. We had 150 tonnes in the first shot and 450 tonnes in a second one in the afternoon,’ said skipper Gudlaugur Jónsson when we spoke to him as Ingunn was steaming home. He said that the capelin was caught in a depth of water of only 50 fathoms, while the fish were at 15 to 20 fathoms and well within range of the purse seine.
‘This is good-quality fish, but it’s a surprise that the sizes are so mixed. Most if the fish is large, excellent quality capelin, but mixed with smaller fish. The roe content isn’t as high as we would have liked to see, but the development stage is what really makes a difference. We’ll find out soon enough if this is Japan-quality fish or not,’ he said, adding that they are waiting for the results of research around a capelin shoal located off the south coast. Research vessel Árni Fridriksson is at work there now and a lot of hopes hang on the research results being good enough for an additional capelin quota to be issued.
