Icelandic seafood company HB Grandi has brought its targeted blue whiting fishery to a temporary close after fulfilling almost three-quarters of its quota.
According to Ingimundur Ingimundsson, fleet manager for HB Grandi’s pelagic vessels, 30,400 metric tons (MT) of blue whiting have been caught so far this season.
The company’s total quota for the year is 42,900 MT, so direct fishing on blue whiting will most likely resume in the fall once the mackerel and Atlanto-Scandian herring seasons are over.
Its 2015 quota is 2,400 MT higher than last year.
This year’s first landing of the fish was on the 23 April, while last year the first landing at the company’s home port of Vopnafjördur took place on 30 March.
In 2014, the fleet caught an early 4,000 MT of blue whiting west of Ireland, but this year it waited for the fish to migrate northwards into Faroese waters before starting to catch them.
The fleet observed that the fish migrated further east this year, said Ingimundsson.
