Capelin production takes a break

So far this season 3300 tonnes of capelin have been landed at HB Grandi's plant in Vopnafjordur, of which 700 tonnes has been processed for human consumption and 2600 tonnes for meal and oil production. The company is now taking a break from fishing and processing, ready to start again in the New Year, reports www.megafishnet.com with reference to HB Grandi.

According to Vopnafjordur plant manager Magnús Róbertsson, Ingunn AK and Faxi RE have each completed two trips this month. Ingunn landed 1340 tonnes at the beginning of the week and this had been passed through the production process by Wednesday, of which 370 tonnes of large and mostly feed-free fish was frozen while the rest was turned into meal and oil. Faxi followed with an 800 tonne landing, of which 140 tonnes went for frozen production.

According to Vilhjalmur Vilhjalmsson, head of HB Grandi's pelagic division, the plan is to resume fishing on capelin right after New Year, after which everything depends on whether or not the capelin quota is increased. Skippers have said that there is a great deal of capelin on the fishing grounds north of Iceland, but the quota increase will not be certain until after the Marine Research Institute's January capelin research cruise. Last year all of HB Grandi's capelin fishing was managed to maximise roe extraction and freezing. This will be an important factor this year as well, with enough quota kept back for the roe fishery.