Síldarvinnslan’s pelagic vessels have landed their last payloads of Atlanto-Scandian herring for this year, and fishing for summer-spawning herring has begun off the west of Iceland.
The last landing of the Atlanto-Scandian herring season took place in Neskaupstaður, when Beitir landed 1140 tonnes which has been processed for human consumption.
Beitir is now in the Kolluáll area off the west of Iceland searching for summer-spawning herring, and there’s a delay in starting fishing to ensure that catches are delivered to production in the freshest possible condition.
‘Vilhelm Thorsteinsson, which also lands in Neskaupstaður, has started fishing and they had 370 tonnes last night,’ said Beitir’s skipper Sigurður Valgeir Jóhannesson, commenting that fishing on these western grounds is for clean summer-spawning herring, which has also been caught off the south-east, mixed with Atlanto-Scandian herring.
‘It’s quite a distance to steam, around 30 hours of more, and it doesn’t make much of a difference if we take the northern or the southern route.’
