HB Grandi: Jumpy herring moving fast

Faxi RE was scheduled to dock in Vopnafjordur on Friday with 640 tonnes of fish on board, caught around 150 nautical miles north-east of Vopnafjordur. During this trip Faxi was pair trawling, first opposite Lundey NS and then with Ingunn AK, and according to Faxi's skipper Albert Sveinsson, this method has been far more effective than with each vessel operating singly, reports www.megafishnet.com with reference to HB Grandi.

‘The fishing is going well and with the fishing as it is at the moment, we really need to be able to tow a larger trawl between two vessels to get results. The herring are very jumpy and they are moving very fast now. It's not enough simply to find a good mark on the sounder, you need to hit the mark just right and be able to follow it,' Albert Sveinsson said, commenting that one shoal they were able to watch and follow was seen to shift 60 nautical miles to the north-east over a 24-hour period.
He said that Ingunn and Lundey have a larger trawl than the blue whiting trawl that Faxi is using, although this is larger than the usual herring gear. The way of working they have developed is that the trawl that is used is the one belonging to the vessel that is scheduled to head for port. So Faxi began the trip as the partner for Lundey, towing Lundey's trawl. When Lundey left the fishing grounds to land its catch, Ingunn took over as the partner vessel, but towing Faxi's trawl.

Albert Sveinsson added that the percentage of blue whiting in catches has fallen, which is a relief. There is always some mackerel taken with the herring, but there have been no large amounts of this in the last few days.