The fishing vessel Vilhelm Þorsteinsson EA brought in the first mackerel catch of the season to the processing plant in Neskaupstaður earlier this week.
Processing finished late Wednesday night. The next morning, Börkur NK arrived with 1,100 tons of mackerel. Work on that catch began right away according to Síldarvinnslan’s website.
Captain Hjörvar Hjálmarsson from Börkur spoke with our team about the fishing trip. “We were fishing in the Smuggan area near the Norwegian line.
Along with us were Icelandic ships and around twenty Russian and Greenlandic vessels, including the Polar Amaroq and Polar Ammassak,” he said.
“When we headed back to land, we were about 400 miles from Neskaupstaður. Four ships were involved in bringing this catch ashore. We caught some of it ourselves in three hauls. The rest came from Beitir, Barði, and Margrét. This cooperation between ships is working very well and makes a lot of sense.”
The fifth ship in the group, Vilhelm Þorsteinsson, was the first to land its catch.
Larger Fish are A Good Sign
This year, mackerel fishing started about a week earlier than usual. While the catches vary, the season is off to a decent start. “Right now, the mackerel are feeding in the Smuggan area. Hopefully, they’ll move into Iceland’s fishing zone soon,” Hjörvar said.
In recent years, fish caught in Icelandic waters have been large, around 500 to 600 grams each. “This time, the fish are 450 to 490 grams, which means they are from a younger generation. That’s a good sign.”
Mackerel fishing in July and August
There are also reports of mackerel being caught with hooks in Faxaflói Bay. “That could mean some fish have already moved into our zone. The question is how many,” said the captain.
Icelandic ships will continue mackerel fishing in July and August. Norwegian and Faroese vessels usually begin later, catching fish in better condition.
“All in all, things are going okay,” Hjörvar added. “The fishing might not be great right now, but that can change quickly.”