‘Having some fishing opportunities for the pelagic vessels and production is very welcome at this time of year, both for the company and for our workforce,’ said Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson, head of HB Grandi’s pelagic division.
He commented that during the last season, the company fleet landed 18,200 tonnes of summer-spawning herring, roughly four times the present allocated quota. He said that setting the initial quota is a very important step and there are hopes that this will be increased later this winter.
Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson added that he is extremely satisfied with the progress made on research into the state of the herring stock during the autumn, and that this research has been the precursor to the Ministry’s decision.
‘This was an excellent co-operation between the Ministry of Fisheries, the Marine Research Institute and the pelagic operators taking part that led to this initial quota being set. The original 15,000 research quota that the Ministry made available made it possible for a study of the herring’s distribution to be carried out, followed by a stock assessment that confirmed the stock is stronger than the previous two assessments had indicated,’ said Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson, and added that when the herring fishery comes to an end, the intention is to investigate fishing on pearlside, with catches to be landed at Akranes as this is close to the fishing grounds.
