‘We were asked to take on some additional search runs and to look more closely at areas in between the runs we had already completed. Then we also went further north and east than had been planned originally,’ Albert Sveinsson said when we spoke to him yesterday afternoon.
Faxi’s search area is off the north-east, while Lundey NS has been searching off the north coast west of Faxi’s area, while Börkur NK has been searching off the east coast. Research vessel Árni Fridriksson has been searching for evidence of capelin on southern grounds, although capelin has not been seen there at this time of year before.
‘It’s been going well. We saw capelin straight away when we arrived on the traditional fishing grounds north-east of Langanes and there is capelin to be seen everywhere there. Lundey found some capelin to the west of us and Börkur has seen capelin as well in their zone, so it’s clear that the capelin are to be found over a wide area,’ said Albert Sveinsson, and added that the marks have been strong and the capelin samples they have caught have been of good quality.
‘This isn’t constant fishing. We don’t do more than dip the trawl in the water and haul as soon as it hits the mark. These are very short hauls that are just to obtain samples for the Marine Research Institute,’ said Albert Sveinsson.
He commented that he reckoned that 100 nautical miles had been added to their search schedule, which should take 15 to 16 hours to finish.
