Westman Islands fishing company Ísfélagið reports that its vessels have finished their mackerel season for this year, with most of the catch taken in international waters and only a small proportion take inside the Icelandic EEZ.
The full 22,300-tonne quota was caught, with the first 5400 tonnes landed in the Westman Islands and 17,00 tonnes landed to the company’s processing plant in Thórshöfn in the north-east of Iceland.
According to the company, this has been a record season for mackerel, and production at both locations has gone smoothly.
Pelagic vessels Sigurður, Heimaey, Álsey and Suðurey participated in this year’s fishery, working a co-operative schedule to pool and land catches.
Switching to Atlanto-Scandian herring, Sigurður has made an initial landing of 1125 tonnes in Thórshöfn while Heimaey has also sailed to start on herring. These two vessels will handle the company’s herring fishery this year, while the crew of Suðurey and Álsey transfer to groundfish trawler Sigurbjörg.
Image: Einar Þór Óttarsson
