SUMMER HERRING PRODUCTION OVER

Early Yesterday  morning the staff at HB Grandi’s Vopnafjördur factory finished processing the last of the herring landed by Faxi RE, bringing to an end a short but busy season that started at the beginning of October on Icelandic summer-spawning herring.

According to factory manager Magnús Róbertsson, Faxi landed 870 tonnes of herring in this last trip. All three pelagic vessels were able to spend three trips on herring this season. Unlike previous seasons, the herring do not appear to have migrated into Breidafjördur. Then the main fishing area was close to Stykkishólmur, but this year it was further offshore in the Kolluáll Gully.

‘We took around 9000 tonnes of herring this season. Both fishing and production went very well and we managed to freeze 4000 tonnes of products,’ he said, commenting that the herring is mostly processed into butterfly fillets.

There is now a break in production at the pelagic factory in Vopnafjördur, and production is not expected to start again until the capelin season. The pelagic vessels are expected to switch now to blue whiting, which could start in the later part of next month.

‘Now we have a spell of cleaning the production facilities, and a chance to carry out maintenance on the machines and equipment,’ Magnús Róbertsson said.