All three of HB Grandi’s pelagic vessels are now fishing on blue whiting south of the Faroe Islands in the so-called grey zone between the UK and Faroese EEZs. Weather conditions are difficult, with heavy seas and currents, and skipper Albert Sveinsson on Faxi RE says they are certainly earning their wages.
Faxi had taken 950 tonnes in three tows when we spoke to Albert Sveinsson at midday on Wednesday when he was towing at around 60°06’N, 06°06’W.
‘We had a 300 tonne haul that was all on board last night and the day before we had 360 tonnes. Our first haul was also 300 tonnes, so that makes 950 altogether so far. Now we’re trying to get a few more tonnes before we steam in, and as things are at the moment it’s about as bad as it gets before we have to stop fishing. The wind has dropped but there are strong currents and the sea is still rough,’ he said and told us that HB Grandi’s other pelagic vessels, Ingunn AK and Lundey NS, are fishing close by, as well as Börkur NK and Vilhelm Thorsteinsson EA, who both arrived on fishing grounds last night.
‘There was a Russian trawler here as well, but he’s gone now. As far as I know, most of the Faroese trawlers are fishing herring off Norway, although we did hear that Júpiter is on mackerel in Irish waters,’ said Albert Sveinsson.
