TOP FISHING ALL SUMMER

Fresher trawler Sturlaugur H Bödvarsson AK is now steaming home from Westfjords fishing grounds with between 110 and 115 tonnes of fish on board. The trawler was off Bardi when we spoke to skipper Eiríkur Jónsson, with an ETA in Reykjavík early tomorrow morning.

‘There has been excellent fishing all summer, but it feels like the cod is starting to drop away off the Westfjords, as is the redfish. We expected the fishing on redfish to die off as we got into August, just as it did last year. On the other hand, there’s no shortage of saithe, which is what had been expected.’

In the previous trip Sturlaugur H Bödvarsson had also fished on Westfjords grounds, landing 240 tonnes for six days of fishing.

‘We did a half-landing in Ísafjördur on the Bank Holiday Sunday and that was practically a full load, close to 130 tonnes. We had another 90 tonnes the next few days and that was landed in Reykjavík last Thursday.’

Like HB Grandi’s other fresher trawlers, Ásbjörn RE and Ottó N Thorláksson RE, Sturlaugur H Bödvarsson took part in the mackerel fishery this summer. Eiríkur Jónsson said that they did well, landing between 180 and 190 tonnes in three trips. The catches were trucked to Vopnafjördur to be frozen there at HB Grandi’s pelagic factory.

Dyneema warps

In Sturlaugur H Bödvarsson’s next trip, expected to start before the weekend, a change is being made on board and the conventional steel wire warps are being replaced with Dyneema warps from Hampidjan. Trawler Vestmannaey has already been using these for some years with great success and Eiríkur Jónsson said that he is looking forward to seeing how this change improves their fishing.

‘These Dyneema warps are half the weight of steel wire and are expected to be lighter to tow, with lower fuel consumption and a much longer working lifetime. Maintenance costs could also drop, as the Dyneema warps are easier on the winches than steel wire,’ Eiríkur Jónsson said.