Production at HB Grandi’s Vopnafjordur pelagic factory has gone well this summer despite a slow start in the mackerel fishery, said the Icelandic seafood company.
According to Factory Manager, Magnus Robertsson, the factory had been running at full production capacity, round the clock for some time.
“It has been very good recently. There was a break around the bank holiday weekend at the beginning of August, but since 10 August we have been running practically without any interruptions,” he said.
Robertsson said the mackerel quality has been similar to previous years and the fat content has been around 20 to 22 percent.
“There has been very little herring by-catch with the mackerel and the skippers make efforts not to mix the two. There isn’t a large Atlanto-Scandian herring quota this year, but I’m still expecting to process some Atlanto-Scandian herring here before the Icelandic summer spawning herring starts, which we would expect to be in October.”
There are between 65 and 70 permanent jobs at the Vopnafjordur factory, and until now this has been highly seasonal work. However, employment at the facility will become much more regular this coming winter when HB Grandi starts its groundfish production at the location.
