Iceland’s fishing fleet landed 109,075 metric tons (MT) of fish and shellfish last month, which was 1 percent more than in September 2018, with only a volume decline in the flatfish categories.
According to preliminary data collected by the country’s Directorate of Fisheries, the September 2019 demersal catch of 36,142 MT was 2 percent more than a year previously, with cod landings increasing 4 percent to 21,408 MT, haddock up 19 percent to 4,345 MT and redfish rising 1 percent to 4,747 MT. There was a 16 percent decrease in the saithe catch to 3,963 MT.
The country’s pelagic catch of 69,181 MT was on par with September 2018, but within this category there was a 277 percent spike in the herring landings, which totaled 50,150 MT. There was, however, a 67 percent decline in the mackerel volume to 18,147 MT, and a 40 percent drop in the blue whiting catch to 884 MT.
At the same time, the total flatfish and shellfish landings totaled 1,800 MT, down 4 percent, and 1,952 MT, up 35 percent, respectively.
The authority totaled the combined October 2018 to September 2019 catch at less than 1.1 million MT, a decrease of 13 percent year-on-year. Within this total, there was a 2 percent rise in the demersal species group at 491,456 MT, but total pelagic landings for the 12-month period were down 23 percent to 567,202 MT. There was also a 14 percent decline in the flatfish catch to 22,996 MT, and a 19 percent drop in the shellfish volume to 10,163 MT.
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