Skipper of Lundey NS (HB Grandi): Quiet on pearlside - gearing up for capelin

F/V Lundey NS.‘The best I can say is that this has been very quiet fishing. We tow all day long and are satisfied with 100 tonnes at the end of it. Yesterday we finished up with only 60 tonnes, which isn't enough to be satisfied with,' said skipper Arnthór Hjörleifsson of Lundey NS when we spoke to him yesterday afternoon, HB Grandi reported on 12 February.

Lundey sailed at the beginning of the week to fish pearlside after bad weather had kept HB Grandi's fishing vessels alongside for a few days. Arnthór Hjörleifsson said that they had arrived on the fishing grounds on Tuesday morning.

‘We shot away that morning and had 100 tonnes for the day, similar to the last few weeks. Yesterday we didn't do so well. We're fishing on tiny marks and to get anywhere, you really have to hit those marks. We didn't do well yesterday, but Ingunn AK had 100 tonnes for the day.'

Lundey has been fishing south of the Skerja Deeps, while most of the fishing for pearlside has been in the Grindavík Deeps. Arnthór Hjörleifsson said that over the last few days the fishing has been mostly with the trawl's headline at 150 to 170 fathoms, but when we spoke to him he said that the seabed was at 187 fathoms.

‘It's not easy to work out how these fish behave. They seem to keep to the edges, but it's impossible to see if they're on the way into the shallows or swimming seawards. The skipper on Huginn VE gave up on this yesterday and the last I heard of them, they were searching alone around 150 nautical miles off.'

HB Grandi's pelagic vessels are now gearing up for the capelin season and Faxi RE could be making a start as early as next weekend. Arnthór Hjörleifsson on Lundey said that switching to capelin would undoubtedly be a pleasant change.

‘We've been careful not to be too pay too much attention to the capelin season so far, but you can't help hearing where the few pursers on it are fishing. So far it seems the migration has reached as far as Grindavík, which is some real news,' he said.