Norway’s Institute of Marine Research (IMR) has advised quotas for mackerel that are increased by 22% and for blue whiting that are up by 77%, while its advice on Atlanto-Scandian herring is up by 104%.
One of HB Grandi’s skippers report that there have been huge mackerel volumes in Icelandic waters all summer and they are still there, with both pelagic vessels fishing well off the east coast and coastal boats filling up with mackerel close inshore off the west.
Iceland’s mackerel season has extended longer into the summer than usual and the indications are there that it could go well into the autumn.
Iceland’s National Association of Small Boat Owners (NASBO) has called on the Ministry of Fisheries to allow free fishing on mackerel for the inshore fleet.
According to Guðlaugur Jónsson, skipper of HB Grandi’s pelagic vessel Venus, which sailed last night from Vopnafjörður, catches have been good in the last couple of trips.
Two mackerel landings close together mean that HB Grandi’s Vopnafjördur factory will be kept busy this Bank Holiday weekend.
A major survey of pelagic stocks on North Atlantic fishing grounds is underway with Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland participating.
This summer’s mackerel season is underway with both of HB Grandi’s pelagic vessels on the fishing grounds already.
Faroese herring has been MSC certified since 2012, and now gets it re-certification, while this is a new certification for Faroese mackerel and blue whiting, each of which represents an approximately half-million tonne annual fishery.
Kaliningrad fishing gear supplier Fishering Service has supplied an Atlantica 1460 pelagic trawl in a combination of hexagonal and diamond meshes to a Russian RSW trawler, one of only a few RSW-equipped pelagic vessels operating in the region.
ADS
