Bad weather on the fishing grounds in the northern hemisphere have hit the main trawler fleets and the main fish carrying ferries were also delayed by the gales.

Yet despite this, Grimsby was able to parade around 1,000 boxes from other sources, including a catch from the Grimsby trawler Jubilee Quest, which was also in port to demonstrate a new quota management information system, developed jointly by the Yorkshire and Humber Seafood Group and the Eastern England Fish Producers' Organisation.

Icelandic companies have confirmed that the weather has been particularly bad and prolonged with trawler crews experiencing temperatures of minus 22 degrees centigrade and below.

The Icelandic carriers are due to arrive on the Humber today and Grimsby is expecting around 2,500 boxes. Hull's Fishgate, which had a small amount of fish from Scotland and Norway today, is also expecting to put on a normal market tomorrow.

Despite the Icelandic setback, leading fish supplier M&J Seafoods said in its market report today that prices for cod and haddock were remaining stable. It added that supplies, boosted by shipments from Denmark and the Faroes, should get back to normal tomorrow when the ferries arrive from Iceland.

Farmed halibut and turbot was also coming in from Norway and while prices were high, they were remaining fairly stable. M&J added that Scottish salmon was likely to be in short supply and more expensive because bad weather affected the salmon harvests last week. Norwegian supplies were helping to fill some of the gap.

Finally, good landings of tuna in the Maldives have helped to ease prices in the UK.

www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish FISHupdate magazine, Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.

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