STRONG FISHING ON BLUE WHITING S-W OF FAROE ISLANDS

Blue whiting is now migrating northwards through the Faroese zone where twelve Icelandic vessels have been fishing since last Monday. According to Gudlaugur Jónsson, skipper of Ingunn AK, fishing started in earnest on Monday night and Ingunn’s crew took their last haul on Tuesday morning.

‘There’s been some fine fishing and we’ve been getting between 300 and 500 tonnes in each tow. We had a problem with the gear that resulted in us losing our biggest haul but altogether we have 1,500 tonnes on board,’ he said when we spoke to him this morning with Ingunn in a position 110 nautical miles south of Akraberg, the most southerly point of the Faroe Islands.
According to the agreement between Iceland and the Faroes, only twelve Icelandic vessels can fish in the Faroese EEZ at one time. The fleet began fishing on blue whiting in international waters west of Ireland before the fish disappeared into EU territorial waters, and it was only at the beginning of the week that they had shifted north into the Faroese EEZ.
‘We spent five days alongside in Suduroy while we waited for the blue whiting to migrate northwards and we sailed on Monday. We’re still short of 500 tonnes for a full trip, but with fishing the way it has been these last few days, that shouldn’t be a problem,’ Gudlaugur Jónsson said.
We also spoke to skipper Arnthór Hjörleifsson on Lundey NS, who had taken 1,000 tonnes in three hauls.