The short roe season that is the high point of Iceland’s capelin season is now well under way, with roe processing in progress at several locations. HB Grandi’s production is underway in Akranes, roe is being processing the Westmann Islands and Síldarvinnslan is producing capelin roe landed and processed at Helguvík, and frozen at Saltver’s factory in Reykjanesbær, as well as producing roe capelin in Neskaupstaður.
Russian pelagic vessels have caught as much Barents Sea capelin this season as they had during the last season in 2015, as there was no fishery in 2016 and 2017, and the prospects are looking good for the continuing season.
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 capelin roe season is now in progress, the most important part of the season when the fish are in peak condition for roe to be extracted for the lucrative and demanding Japanese market, and production is now underway at several locations in Iceland, with inspectors from Japan carefully watching the quality.
Iceland’s capelin season has ground to a halt as quota are now short and research vessels head back to sea to search for a potential further migration. The industry has reacted with disappointment to the recommended quota for the season, as by the time the figures were released following the January surveys, much of the quota had already been caught.
The Russian fleet’s capelin catch has reached more than 6000 tonnes, according to Petr Savchuk, deputy head of the Federal Fisheries Agency.
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.
While the capelin fishery around Iceland currently in limbo while the Icelandic fleet waits for the results of the stock survey this week, Norwegian vessels have taken their first capelin of the year in Icelandic waters, and Russian vessels have taken some early catches of capelin in the Barents Sea.
Icelandic pelagic skippers are reporting thick concentrations of capelin off the north-east of Iceland, with the fish moving in the usual migration pattern. This could indicate a good season to come, but it depends on the results of the Marine Research Institute’s capelin survey. Initial results could be ready at the end of the week.
The harbour at Norðfjörður has suddenly become too small as the capelin season has got off to a strong start with good fising off eastern Iceland between bouts of heavy weather, and some of the shipping traffic has had to be diverted to other ports.