According to HB Grandi its pelagic vessels have 12,500 tonnes of herring left to be caught, of which 3300 tonnes are still be caught in Norwegian waters. Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson, head of the company’s pelagic division, informed that there is every expectation that the year’s herring quota will all be caught. 3100 tonnes can also be carried over to next year, so there is little chance of any of the company’s quota being lost.
Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson also explained that Faxi RE and Ingunn AK landed 3200 tonnes between them at Vopnafjördur over the weekend. Around 300 tonnes of Ingunn’s herring went for production for human consumption to produce 130 tonnes of butterfly fillets. It is told that the Icelandic herring fleet is now operating just outside the Norwegian limits between 68° and 69°N, in an area that is a 460 mile steam back to Vopnafjördur. Lundey NS arrived on the grounds yesterday morning and by early today had 450 tonnes on board. Ingunn is expected on the fishing grounds very soon.
Experts said that the state of the Atlanto-Scandian herring stock is judged to be strong and it was announced today that ICES has recommended an increased quota to 1,643,000 tonnes next year. It is noticed that the increase is of 8 percent and will give the Icelandic fleet a quota of 238,000 tonnes next year.
