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Despite being slow, sandeel fishing continues as several boats from the Norwegian fleet target North Sea herring
Sandeel fishing is still being done, and several are working on North Sea herring reports Norges Sildesalgslag for week 20 of 2023.
Sildelaget’s Sales Manager, Kenneth Garvik reports:
Sandeel:
It was another week of sandeel with poor fishing, and in total we have 6,800 tonnes in the record. This quantity was fished by 20 different boats with catches ranging from just a few tonnes to 1,250 tonnes as the largest catch.
The fishing has taken place on well-known sandbanks in the area west of the West Bank. Fishermen are still reporting low sea temperatures and summer has so far been absent in the North Sea.
The final quota council also came in the week where the researchers maintained the sandeel quota of 60,000 tonnes. Of this year’s quota, 12,800 tonnes have now been fished, and there is probably a month left of the period in which fishing can be done. So, we are crossing our fingers that the fishing can pick up in the last part of the season.
North Sea herring:
A few boats were launched after 17 May for herring fishing in the North Sea and from five boats we registered 1,350 tonnes at the weekend. These catches are both sold for consumption and flour/oil.
The catches have been taken in the area south of the Patch bank and further south to the north of the Lingbanken, this will be directly west of Bømlo to Haugesund.
The size of the herring varies from 128-141 grams on average. This is a rather small herring for ideal production for consumption.
It is clear that the food supply in the North Sea has been low in winter/spring as the fat content in the herring has been very low. The first catches showed levels well down in the 3 figures, while the latest analyses now show around 10% fat. The positive thing about the latest catches is that the herring has a lot of food in both stomach and intestines. And we therefore hope that the fat content will rise rapidly in the next couple of weeks.
In the coming week, several boats will set course for the North Sea herring. Since the herring are still lean, most boats will probably wait until June before they start fishing.
Mackerel:
Mackerel fishing on the coast is not a big deal. For the smallest boats, we only have 30 tonnes registered. Most have been taken in Bømlo municipality, in addition some catches have been taken in Rogaland and Vestland counties.
Sun and summer are needed on the coast so that the mackerel can find food to collect the fish.
Blue whiting:
This week’s blue whiting quantity shows a quantity of 6,000 tonnes. This is divided by 5,400 tonnes from three Faroese boats that have fished for blue whiting in their own zone.
In addition, three Norwegian boats have contributed the remaining (600 tonnes). This was fished on “Kanten”, where they have fished 80 tonnes of Strømsild and 40 tonnes of Norway pout.
