Iceland’s fishing fleet landed 113,365 metric tons (MT) of fish and shellfish last month, which was 8 percent more than in August 2018, with a larger pelagic catch offsetting volume declines across all the other main species categories.
According to preliminary data collected by the country’s Directorate of Fisheries, last month’s pelagic catch of 74,994 metric tons (MT) was 21 percent more than a year previously, thanks to a 23 percent spike in the mackerel landings, which totaled 66,585 MT, and a 19 percent rise in the herring volume to 7,263 MT. Also within the pelagic category, there was a 25 percent decline in the blue whiting catch, which amounted to 1,146 MT.
The country’s August demersal catch, meanwhile, fell 6 percent year-on-year to 35,508 MT, with cod landings down 10 percent to 16,415 MT and redfish falling 17 percent to 5,320 MT. There was a 1 percent rise in the haddock volume to 4,489 MT, and the saithe catch increased 12 percent to 7,572 MT.
At the same time, the total flatfish and shellfish landings totaled 2,189 MT (down 35 percent) and 678 MT (down 69 percent) respectively.
The authority’s figures also confirmed that the combined September 2018 to August 2019 catch amounted to less than 1.1 million MT, which was down 14 percent year-on-year. Within this total, there was a 3 percent increase in the demersal species group at 490,662 MT, but total pelagic landings for the 12-month period were down 25 percent to 567,057 MT. There was also a 14 percent decline in the flatfish catch to 23,072 MT, and a 21 percent drop in the shellfish volume to 9,654 MT.
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