Brim’s fresher trawler Helga María docked in Reykjavík earlier this week after a four-day trip on Westfjords grounds. The catch is 113 tonnes. This is the trawler’s second trip since the Seamen’s Day stopover at the beginning of this month when the whole fleet is in port.
‘We had a two-day trip right after Seamen’s Day, just enough to get production going,’ said skipper Heimir Guðbjörnsson, who has been in Helga María’s wheelhouse for both trips.
He said that the first trip was on home grounds, on the Mountains.
‘As so often, we were primarily searching for saithe, and that’s elusive. But we managed to get 25-26 tonnes in those two days. The overall catch was 73 tonnes, most of which was species such as golden redfish.’
He said that they sailed northwards to the Westfjords fishing grounds last Thursday evening.
‘We started in the Víkuráll Gully, and there was no saithe to be seen, only golden redfish. We shifted to the bank west of Patreksfjörður. There were cod and saithe there, and some golden redfish with it. We couldn’t stop there long as the ice was starting to spread across the area. We moved off as the ice stretched out and meant to go to the Hali grounds. That turned out to not be an option, because of the ice, and we had no choice but to head home. The catch was respectable, and I’m happy with it, considering the difficult conditions,’ he said, adding that as long as the southerly and south-westerly winds continue to blow, the ice will remain in the Westfjords grounds.
‘We hardly dare hope for a good blow of an easterly wind. There’s nothing on the weather charts but a continuing south-westerly and while that lasts most of the Westfjords grounds won’t be accessible for fishing,’ Heimir Guðbjörnsson said.
