There was so much interest in the experimental Loppa gutting and heading machine for smaller fishing boats at the last Nor-Fishing exhibition that its inventors had every reason to push ahead with development and a commercial version will make its debut at Nor-Fishing this year.
Marel has contracted with HB Grandi to supply a new roundfish processing system for its Vopnafjörður factory in north-eastern Iceland, which is now diversifying from being a purely pelagic operation into also handling groundfish.
In its first trip after a month-long refit, one of HB Grandi’s fresher trawlers hit a patch of saithe off the west of Iceland and other trawlers quickly arrived on the scene for as long as the fishing lasted.
Síldarvinnslan is bridging the gap between now and the beginning of the summer herring and mackerel seasons by switching its production to groundfish.
Saithe processing started at Síldarvinnslan’s factory in Neskaupstaður in eastern Iceland last week.
HB Grandi fresher trawler Helga María AK-16 docked in Reykjavík yesterday with 90 tonnes on board after a short trip on grounds off south-western Iceland. According to skipper Bjarni H. Garðarsson, they sailed last Friday but had to cut the trip short due to a fault in the ship’s steam boiler.
HB Grandi’s trawlers have made a good start to the new year. As in previous years, the search is on for saithe around the coast, but saithe are not easy to find. On the other hand, there is plenty of cod at this time of year while redfish remain elusive.