Fishing vessels operating out of Iceland landed a total 61,962 metric tons (MT) of fish and shellfish last month, which was 96 percent more than in June 2019. According to the preliminary data gathered by the country’s Directorate of Fisheries, there were increases in catches across all the main fisheries categories.
June’s demersal catch increased by 23 percent year-on-year to 34,963 MT, with cod landings rising by 43 percent to 21,181 MT. There were also larger volumes of haddock and redfish at 2,660 MT and 4,149 MT, respectively, while the saithe catch fell 12 percent to 4,664 MT.
At the same time, the fleet’s flatfish catch amounted to 4,167 MT, an increase of 54 percent; and the shellfish catch reached 544 MT an increase of 14 percent.
After a zero catch in June 2019, Iceland’s pelagic fishers caught 22,289 MT of fish last month. This total comprised of 1,714 MT of herring, 7,060 MT of mackerel, and 13,515 MT of blue whiting.
The authority’s data also calculated the combined July 2019 to June 2020 catch at 999,447 MT, a decrease of 7 percent year-on-year. This reduction included a 5 percent decrease in the demersal species group at 465,329 MT, 9 percent less pelagics at 504,259 MT, a 28 percent fall in the shellfish landed with 8,269 MT, and 17 percent fewer flatfish at 21,588 MT.
In 2019, Iceland’s wild-capture fisheries landings totaled 1,048,202 MT, which was 17 percent less than in 2018. Most of that decrease was attributed to there being no capelin caught, but there were also declines in the volumes of flatfish and shellfish, while the demersal catch was on par with the previous year.
The country’s aquaculture sector, meanwhile, harvested 34,000 MT of products last year, which was 80 percent more than the 19,100 MT produced in 2018. This increase was largely attributed to increased salmon production, which doubled from 13,400 MT to almost 27,000 MT. There was also a large increase in the total Arctic char volume, which amounted to 6,300 MT.
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