HB Grandi: Capelin reach Breidafjordur

The capelin migration that has provided heavy fishing for the past few weeks has now reached Breidafjördur and yesterday pelagic vessels were fishing eight nautical miles north of Öndverdarnes. Lundey NS took 1100 tonnes in three shots, and when we spoke to chief mate and relief skipper Stefán Geir Jónsson, Lundey was an hour from docking at Akranes, reports www.megafishnet.com with reference HB Grandi.

‘The capelin have been shifting north very fast and now they're inside Breidafjördur. We have been following this migration and fishing has been excellent. In fact, it's been remarkably good considering how difficult the weather has been. We've had westerly and south-westerly winds and non-stop bad weather. It wasn't until last night that we finally had some decent weather, with a flat calm sea,' Stefán Geir Jónsson said, adding that skippers have been fishing under worse conditions than often in the past. This is down to the high catch values that hang in the balance, as well as the much-improved fishing gears that can cope with higher tensions than in the past.

The capelin that is now being caught north of Öndverdarnes is close to spawning and he said that the roe content is now certainly around 26-27%.

‘There must be a few shoals of capelin that have yet to show up. Our main problem now is that the weather is forecast to be bad for the next three days. That's certainly going to affect fishing, but we have to hope for the best,' Stefán Geir Jónsson said.