Iceland’s minister of fisheries Kristján Thór Júlíusson has signed off regulations regarding the Icelandic fleet’s quotas for blue whiting and Atlanto-Scandian herring for 2019. At present there is no agreement with the Faroe Islands for Icelandic vessels to catch any of these quotas in Faroese waters.
Larsnes Mek Verksted has delivered a new Rolls-Royce-designed purse seiner/seiner netter to fishing company Hovden Senior, based at Kjødepollen in western Norway. This is the company’s third newbuild since 1996, and replaces a 2007-built vessel.
The Icelandic pelagic fleet has tied up for the year after finishing on blue whiting, just as heavy weather hit the fishing grounds and catch rates had dropped away.
The reciprocal access agreement struck between the EU and the Faroe Islands hasn’t been universally welcomed, and Scottish fishermen’s organisations are furious at the outcome that allows the Faroese fleet to catch a third of its mackerel quota in EU waters.
Norwegian fishing company Cetus AS, based at Vea on the island of Karmøy, has placed an order for a new pelagic trawler/purse seiner to be built at Fitjar Mek. Veksted.
Samerji’s pelagic freezer trawler Vilhelm Thorsteinsson docked in Neskaupstaðar this week with 570 tonnes of frozen Atlanto-Scandian herring on board, making its last landing under the Icelandic flag before being delivered to its new owners in Russia.
Coastal states have agreed on the management of herring and blue whiting in 2019, but have failed to reach agreement on the individual shares for each nation. Next year’s Atlanto-Scandian herring TAC is decided at 588,562 tonnes, up on the 2018 TAC of 435,000 tonnes, and blue whiting TAC is 1,143,629 tonnes, slightly down on the 2018 figure.
Karstensens Skibsværft in Denmark has delivered its newbuild #439, a 51.90 metre LOA by 11.20 metre beam pelagic vessel for owners in Ireland.
The ICES perception of the stock is contrary to that witnessed by fishermen on the fishing grounds, according to Ian Gatt, chief executive of the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association, commenting on the news that ICES advises a cut in the 2019 mackerel catch.
Dr Katie Brigden has been appointed as Fisheries Scientist to work on a pioneering fish industry ‘self-sampling’ scheme for pelagic stocks. Her new role is supported by the EU PANDORA project, under which the NAFC Marine Centre in Shetland is partnering with the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association (SPFA) and Marine Scotland Science (MSS).
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