The Icelandic fishing fleet landed seafood totaling 88,972 metric tons (MT) last month, a decrease of 60 percent compared with February 2015, according to new figures published by Statistics Iceland.
While the country’s total demersal catch grew by 19 percent to 47,384 MT, thanks to double-digit rises in its cod, haddock, saithe and redfish landings, it was not enough to offset a 78 percent drop in the pelagic catch.
Fishermen landed 39,611 MT of pelagic fish last month, a decrease from 181,764 MT a year previously. This dramatic slump was mainly accounted for by an 88 percent fall in the capelin catch – down from 179,045 MT to 20,759 MT. There was, though, a 564 percent spike in blue whiting landings – up from 2,709 MT to 18,000 MT.
The fleet also landed 1,379 MT of flatfish, an increase of 43 percent; and 598 MT of shellfish, up 176 percent.
During the last 12-month period, Iceland has landed almost 1.2 million MT of seafood, a decrease of 5 percent year-on-year.
