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The ‘Margret’ EA landing a test catch at the Síldarvinnslan hf processing plant ahead of the Icelandic Mackerel Season 2020. Photo: Síldarvinnslan hf
Icelandic fish processing company, Síldarvinnslan hf, has reported a slow start to the 2020 mackerel season since their pelagic fleet returned to fishing at the begininng of July.
The vessels have mainly been fishing south of the country and the catch has not been large and very herring mixed. The vessels that land at Síldarvinnslan have collaborated on the fishing.
Their catch is each time pumped on board one of the vessels that transports it ashore and the vessels take turns taking the catch on board. With this arrangement, there are less distractions from fishing and vessels do not sail long distances with small catches.
The vessels participating in this cooperation are Beitir NK, Börkur NK, Bjarni Ólafsson AK and Margrét EA, but it is expected that the cooperation will continue while the fishing is slow.
Bark arrived in the port of Neskaupstaður last week with about 800 tons and only about half of the catch was mackerel. A total of almost 5,000 tonnes of mackerel have been landed in Neskaupstaður so far this season, and in addition almost 1,800 tonnes of herring have been landed.
The processing in the fish factory has been successful, but it always takes some time at the beginning of the season to get all the machines to work as expected. New equipment has also been put into use in the plant, which is beginning to perform its function well.
This year’s mackerel fishing began earlier than in recent years and it seems that mackerel has to a very limited extent entered Icelandic jurisdiction. It should be borne in mind that fishing also started slowly last season.
Source: Síldarvinnslan hf
