The total value of fish and shellfish caught by Icelandic vessels in July amounted to ISK 8.3 billion (USD 79.1 million, EUR 68 million), down almost 12 percent compared with a year previously. Reduced earnings were seen in both its pelagic and demersal landings, but greater values were achieved in the flatfish and shellfish categories, according to the latest figures from Statistics Iceland.
Iceland’s demersal catch value for the aforementioned month declined by 12 percent to less than ISK 5.1 billion (USD 48.6 million, EUR 41.8 million), with cod’s value declining by 5.5 percent compared to July 2016 to ISK 3.1 billion (USD 29.6 million, EUR 25.4 million), saithe down 50.1 percent to ISK 466.4 million (USD 4.4 million, EUR 3.8 million) and redfish down 14.6 percent to ISK 694.7 million (USD 6.6 million, EUR 5.7 million). There was, however, a 6.7 percent increase in the value of the haddock catch at ISK 529.7 million (USD 5.1 million, EUR 4.3 million).
At the same time, the country’s pelagic value decreased by more than 29.1 percent to ISK 1.6 billion (USD 15.2 million, EUR 13.1 million), mainly due to a 34.6 percent reduction in the mackerel value at ISK 1.4 billion (USD 13.4 million, EUR 11.5 million).
However, its flatfish and shellfish values increased by 22.7 percent and 13.1 percent respectively to ISK 1.2 billion (USD 11.4 million, EUR 10 million) and ISK 404.9 million (USD 3.9 million, EUR 3.3 million).
Figures for the year August 2016 through July 2017 find that the total catch value dropped by 18.8 percent year-on-year to ISK 111.5 billion (USD 1.1 billion, EUR 914 million), including reductions in the demersal, flatfish and shellfish catch values of 23.6 percent, 22.3 percent and 36.3 percent respectively. The pelagic catch value for the year increased by 4.1 percent to almost ISK 26.3 billion (USD 250.8 million, EUR 215.6 million).
During the 12-month period, around ISK 59.7 billion (USD 569.4 million, EUR 489.4 million) worth of Iceland’s total catch went directly for domestic processing (down 17.3 percent), while ISK 16.5 billion (USD 157.4 million, EUR 135.3 million) worth was sold at auction for domestic processing (down 17.6 percent). Landings valued at ISK 4.2 billion (USD 40.1 million, EUR 34.4 million) were exported in containers (down 15.4 percent), and the frozen-at-sea catch fell by 22.8 percent year-on-year to ISK 30.3 billion (USD 289 million, EUR 248.4 million).
