‘We spend a decent part of every trip searching for saithe in amounts that are worth fishing. That’s something that hasn’t been very successful, but there’s no problem taking our allocation of golden redfish and cod,’ said Magnús Kristjánsson, skipper of one of HB Grandi’s fresher trawlers.
Iceland’s Minister of Fisheries has signed off regulations covering this year’s coastal fishery, open only to inshore boats within certain restrictions, and has increased and adjusted the quotas available.
Iceland and Russia have signed an agreement covering fishing activities by Icelandic vessels in the Russian area of the Barents Sea this year.
There has been some fine fishing in the last few weeks south and west of Reykjanes in Iceland, mainly golden redfish and cod, plus a spell of good saithe fishing. There are trawlers and smaller boats fishing from the Westmann Islands all the way west to Reykjanes.
Just as fears surface of Atlantic cod as a whole becoming branded unsustainable by the US government, in spite of the existence of numerous cod stocks that are in excellent condition, Canadian P3 cod has been MSC certified and recognised as meeting the criteria for sustainable fisheries.
Skipper Ægir Fransson expects to haul his gear today for the last time this trip and set course for home to finish the trip on home grounds. The catch for the trip so far has been an ungutted weight of 1000 tonnes of fish.
The Icelandic authorities have protested at the US government’s decision to place Atlantic cod on a list of endangered species, based on reports of IUU fishing.
Three Icelandic trawlers have fallen foul of by-catch regulations in Norwegian waters as Coastguard inspections showed high levels of haddock in their cod catches, resulting in heavy fines.
There has been some good fishing on the Fugløy Bank in the Barents Sea since HB Grandi’s factory trawler Therney arrived there in mid-January. According to skipper Kristinn Gestsson, the first week there was very good and since then catch rates have been reasonable.
