All three of HB Grandi’s pelagic vessels are now in the grey zone between Faroese and Scottish territorial limits. The three sailed after Easter and spent 48 hours steaming to the fishing grounds.
There appear to be no reports of catches and the blue whiting do not appear to have yet migrated north out of the UK EEZ.
‘We’ve been here since wednesday and now we’re searching eastwards along the northern edge of the Scottish limits. We haven’t seen any marks yet, and neither have any of the others here in the area. Vilhelm Thorsteinsson EA had a 70 tonne haul last night and that’s all so far,’ said Gudlaugur Jónsson, skipper of Ingunn AK.
Lundey NS was the first of the HB Grandi vessels to reach the fishing grounds at midday on Wednesday. Ingunn was there that same evening and Gudlaugur Jónsson reported that Faxi RE had arrived on Thursday afternoon. He said that there are seven Icelandic vessels searching for blue whiting, as well as three Russian factory trawlers that have been at sea over Easter without seeing any significant catches.
