Conditions uncertain for capelin

A 600 tonne catch that Faxi RE docked with at Vopnafjordur on 11 January 2011 night is now being landed and according to skipper Albert Sveinsson, these fish were caught north of Langanes. Faxi had bad weather for the whole trip and he said that with such difficult seas, conditions were bordering on being too rough to fish, reports www.megafishnet.com with reference to HB Grandi.

‘If it wasn't enough that the weather gave us trouble, the trawl belly ripped away form the codend in one haul and it took us a day and the next night to get the gear squared away again,' Albert Sveinsson said, commenting that it is difficult to evaluate conditions on the fishing grounds at present.

‘It didn't look too bad when we sailed, with life everywhere and plenty of decent marks on the sonars. But then there were days with nothing to be seen.'

As well as Faxi, Lundey NS, Beitir NK, Börkur NK and Vilhelm Thorsteinsson EA been in the area north of Langanes, while Albert Sveinsson said that Adalsteinn Jónsson SU has been fishing further south where there are larger grades of fish to be found.

‘Lundey appeared in the area last night and I heard the skipper saying this morning that they had just hauled 150 to 170 tonnes,' he said.

Like Lundey, Faxi had been involved in the capelin search before the fishing started last weekend. He said that Faxi had been allocated the area off Vopnafjördur and Bakkafjördur.

‘We saw practically no capelin in that area, although there was some capelin seen both to the north and the south,' Albert Sveinsson said.