GOOD TRIP FOR THERNEY IN RUSSIAN WATERS

Therney RE is now steaming back to Icelandic waters after a successful trip in the Russian zone of the Barents Sea. According to chief mate Sigurgeir Jóhannsson, catches have been very good with an estimated 655 tonnes of live weight fish in their two weeks there.

‘We sailed on the 14th of November and started fishing on the Goose Bank six days later. We stayed at around 72°N and the furthest we went east was 47°E,’ he said, and commented that the weather has been reasonable while they were there, with an occasional spell of rough weather but never bad enough to stop them fishing.

He said that the bulk of the catch is medium-sized and larger grades of cod.

‘We have around 30 tonnes of other species, mostly Greenland halibut plus a few tonnes of haddock, as well as some spotted catfish and flatfish,’ Sigurgeir Jóhannsson said, adding that Therney was the only Icelandic vessel fishing in the Russian zone.

‘There were a few Russians, three from the Faroes and two trawlers from Greenland were on the way.’

When we spoke to Sigurgeir Jóhannsson, Therney was at a position off the Finmark coast and he expected to be ready to start fishing again in Icelandic waters today, with the trip due to end shortly before Christmas.