Iceland’s small boat fishermen are less than satisfied with this year’s mackerel allocations, with 96% of quotas allocated to the pelagic fleet. The National Association of Small Boat Owners (NASBO) is lobbying for a 16% share of the mackerel quota.
Iceland’s Ministry of Industries and Innovation, which includes fisheries, has announced a 20,000 tonne increase to the mackerel quota compared to last year.
Danish pelagic vessel Ruth docked in the Faroes at the end of last week with 2600 tonnes of mackerel valued at DKK20 million (€2.69 million) on board for its first trip of 2017.
Even with spells of heavy weather, the Atlanto-Scandian herring fishery in northern Norway has got off to a strong start with 17,300 tonnes landed during the first week.
Norway and the Faroe Islands have reached agreement on reciprocal fishing rights for 2017, with the Faroes getting an increased cod quota in Norwegian waters and in return Norway gets a higher mackerel quota in the Faroese EEZ.
Scottish mackerel fishermen and processors are calling upon the EU to reduce the current access arrangements for Faroese vessels to catch mackerel in Scottish waters.
There has been some heavy fishing on herring in Norwegian waters, with 18,000 tonnes reported last week.
Neskaupstaður company Síldarvinnslan has had a busy few months since the start of the mackerel season in mid-July. This season’s landings have totalled close to 69,000 tonnes.
Meeting at Clonakilty in Ireland, representatives of the EU, the Faroe Islands and Norway have agreed on a mackerel quota of 1,020,996 tonnes for next year, which represents an increase of almost 14% compared with this yea's quota and exceeds the 944,000 tonne figure recommended by ICES.
With the year’s mackerel and Atlanto-Scandian herring fisheries over for the year, HB Grandi’s two pelagic vessels have now switched to blue whiting.