Thousand-tonne trip

Brim’s factory trawler Vigri docked in Reykjavík yesterday morning. According to skipper Árni Gunnólfsson, the catch was a green weight of 970 tonnes and the catch value is estimated at ISK415 million. He commented that an outstanding crew and good managers ashore deserve the credit for these results.

‘Before sailing we were advised to concentrate on saithe, and hopefully we have been able to do that as we had around 300 tonnes of saithe for the trip. The trawler fleet has been putting more fishing pressure on saithe, although the fishery is naturally managed with a total allowable catch,’ he said, adding that they started on the Toe south of Grindavík. From there they shifted to the Eldey Bank, and Vigri spent most of its trip in that area.

He commented that they went to the Skerja Deeps to search for deep redfish, but had most of their deep redfish catch around Matthildur, an area off the Belgableyð, Litill and Pínulitill Banks. When the weather took a turn for the worse the decision was made to head for western fishing grounds.

‘We started in the Víkuráll Gully. There was very good fishing there. Of course there’s golden redfish and haddock everywhere, but there’s also a great deal of cod, and these are the species that are flourishing in Icelandic waters. During this trip, we treated these as by-catch,’ Árni said, commenting that the cod are all fine-quality fish, averaging between four and six kilos.

‘It makes a difference when cod are returning after spending time in Greenlandic waters. This is fat fish in great condition.’

Vigri then headed for the edge off the Westfjords, also for very good fishing. There was some very heavy fishing there just as Vigri was heading home, and Árni said that many of the trawlers were easily taking hauls of ten tonnes for relatively short tows.

‘Most of what we had along the edge was saithe. We also tried for some Greenland halibut. We started on the Hampiðjan Square, but the best fishing was a long way north, on the Potato Patch. That’s west of the Hali grounds,’ Árni Gunnólfsson said.