Iceland’s fishing industry achieved first-sales totaling ISK 124.7 billion (USD 1 billion, EUR 910.2 million) for the 12 months through October 2018, representing a year-on-year increase of 14 percent.
The latest figures issued by Statistics Iceland confirm that the rise was the result of heightened earnings within the demersal, flatfish and shellfish categories. There was, however, a reduction in the pelagic value over the same period.
Iceland’s demersal catch value increased by 18.3 percent year-on-year to almost ISK 88.2 billion (USD 735.2 million, EUR 643.6 million), with the cod catch accounting for ISK 55.6 billion (USD 463.4 million, EUR 405.8 million) of this total, up 18.3 percent compared with the previous 12 months.
There were also significant increases in the catch values of haddock, saithe and redfish, which achieved first-sales of ISK 9.6 billion (USD 80 million, EUR 70.1 million), ISK 7.7 billion (USD 64.2 million, EUR 56.2 million) and ISK 10.5 billion (USD 87.5 million, EUR 76.7 million) respectively.
Iceland’s flatfish catch value climbed by 34.2 percent to ISK 10.1 billion (USD 84.2 million, EUR 73.7 million), while the revenues from shellfish were up 8.3 percent to ISK 2.6 billion (USD 21.7 million, EUR 19 million).
The country’s pelagic catch value decreased by 4.4 percent to ISK 23.8 billion (USD 198.4 million, EUR 173.7 million), with earnings for herring, capelin and mackerel decreasing by 28.9 percent, 12.2 percent and 12 percent respectively. Blue whiting achieved revenues of ISK 6.2 billion (USD 51.7 million, EUR 45.3 million), up 63.6 percent year-on-year.
Over the course of the 12-month period, more than ISK 70 billion (USD 583.5 million, EUR 510.9 million) worth of Iceland’s total catch went directly for domestic processing, up 17.8 percent, while ISK 18.9 billion (USD 157.5 million, EUR 138 million) worth was sold at auction for domestic processing, up 17.8 percent.
Landings valued at almost ISK 5.6 billion (USD 46.6 million, EUR 40.9 million) were exported in containers, up 36.8 percent, and the frozen-at-sea catch was up 1.4 percent year-on-year to ISK 29.9 billion (USD 249.2 million, EUR 218.2 million).
