Results of the ISSSNS joint pelagic survey carried out by Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands from 30th of June to 6th August have been released, and indicate a drop in the mackerel population, with the densest concentrations observed in the Norwegian Sea.
Vónin recently delivered a full package of gear to French surimi factory trawler Joseph Roty II, which fishes all year round on blue whiting.
According to the Danish Pelagic PO, blue whiting has proved to be an increasingly important resource for Denmark’s fishmeal sector. This year Danish pelagic vessels have landed 81,000 tonnes of blue whiting valued at DKK132.4 million (€17.80 million) compared to 61,000 tonnes last year worth DKK83.50 million (€11.20 million) last year.
There has been little fishing on blue whiting grounds in the Faroese EEZ over the last few days as fishing has dropped away. Síldarvinnslan’s two pelagic vessels Beitir and Börkur have been searching north of the Faroes with limited success.
HB Grandi’s pelagic vessel Víkingur is steaming home with 2200 tonnes of blue whiting in its tanks after a trip in Faroese waters, and fishing has slowed down in the last few days as the fish are increasingly dispersed.
There is heavy fishing on blue whiting in Faroese waters at the moment, with Faroese, Icelandic, Russian and Norwegian vessels all fishing there, as the fish appear to have migrated out of EU waters and into the Faroese zone.
The Icelandic pelagic fleet has been fishing well on blue whiting since the beginning of April, and Síldarvinnslan has taken delivery of 25,000 tonnes since the season got underway.
The Síldarvinnslan fishmeal plant at Seyðisfjörður in eastern Iceland was last night evacuated after a long period of snowfalls combined with rising temperatures and rain created an avalanche risk as snow on the Strandartindur mountain overlooking the factory began to loosen.
The Norwegian fleet has finished one capelin season and another has started, as their quota in Icelandic waters has been fished and the Barents Sea capelin fishery is now in progress.
Iceland’s Marine Research Institute has released the results of the latest capelin survey and the figures were announced as a 77,000 increase on the provisional quota that the fleet has been fishing on so far this year, while the Ministry of Fisheries has announced a boosted blue whiting quota share for 2018.