Two of Síldarvinnslan’s pelagic vessels have made their last landings of blue whiting for the time being and are alongside to fit out for the coming mackerel season.
Börkur landed 3200 tonnes of blue whiting at the weekend, caught in a trip in the Faroese zone.
‘We were north-east of the Faroes and had this in eight hauls of between 250 and 600 tonnes for tows of 10 to 17 hours,’ said skipper Hálfdan Hálfdanarson, and commented that they were fishing alongside Faroese, Norwegian and Russiam vessels, as well as Greenlandic pelagic vessel Polar Amaroq.
‘It’s about a month since this fishery in the Faroese zone opened up and it’s gone pretty well. There has been both good weather and good fishing. Next for us is getting ready for mackerel. So our blue whiting fishing is over for now. The expectation is that we’ll start on mackerel around the middle of June,’ he said.
Börkur has been followed by Barði, which landed a capacity trip of 2100 tonnes, taken in seven tows.
‘We were fishing east and north-east of the Faroes, not far from the Scottish limit. Tows were 12 to 18 hours, apart from the last one which was kept short for just enough to fill the tanks,’ said Barði’s skipper Thorell Pétursson.
‘The fishing for blue whiting in Faroese waters has been very good. This started in early April and we’ve had five trips. Now we’re discharging, the fishing gear will be put ashore and everything gets scrubbed and cleaned up. It’s mackerel next, but that’s not likely to be until the second half of June,’ he said.
Beitir is the only Síldarvinnslan vessel still fishing for blue whiting.
