The total value of fish and shellfish landed by Icelandic vessels in May amounted to ISK 10.7 billion (USD 101.6 million, EUR 85.5 million), down 11.3 percent, with reduced earnings seen in its demersal, pelagic, flatfish and shellfish catches, Statistics Iceland has confirmed.
Iceland’s demersal catch value for the month fell by 4.7 percent to less than ISK 8.1 billion (USD 76.9 million, EUR 64.7 million), with cod’s value slipping by 0.9 percent compared to May 2016 to ISK 5 billion (USD 47.5 million, EUR 39.9 million) and haddock down 10.5 percent to ISK 727.8 million (USD 6.9 million, EUR 5.8 million).
The country’s pelagic value fell by 24.8 percent to less than ISK 1.3 billion (USD 12.3 million, EUR 10.4 million), largely led by the dramatic fall in the blue whiting catch. At the same time, its flatfish and shellfish values declined by 23.4 percent and 41.3 percent respectively to ISK 954.7 million (USD 9.1 million, EUR 7.6 million) and ISK 357.8 million (USD 3.4 million, EUR 2.9 million).
Figures for the year June 2016 through May 2017 find even more significant declines. The total catch value dropped by 19.7 percent year-on-year to ISK 114 billion (USD 1.1 billion, EUR 909.6 million), including drops in the demersal, pelagic, flatfish and shellfish catch values of 22.7 percent, 3.4 percent, 27.7 percent and 37.4 percent respectively.
During the 12-month period, around ISK 60 billion (USD 569 million, EUR 478.7 million) worth of Iceland’s total catch went directly for domestic processing (down 19.5 percent), while ISK 17.3 billion (USD 164.1 million, EUR 138 million) worth was sold at auction for domestic processing (down 14.7 percent). Landings valued at ISK 4.4 billion (USD 41.7 million, EUR 35.1 million) were exported in containers (down 8.8 percent), and the frozen-at-sea catch fell by 23.7 percent year-on-year to ISK 31.6 billion (USD 299.7 million, EUR 252.1 million).
