In Iceland, the herring fishery this winter is expected to come near to that of the legendary 1947-48 season when a new record was set.

This season has closed with an estimated 140,000 tonnes of the 156,000 tonne quota total caught in the fjiords around the west of Iceland.

The Norwegian fleets are also reporting a similar story with very large catches and a very strong herring stock.

Herring is a big earner for the Icelandic fishing industry - even more so now that the quotas on cod and other white fish species have tightened in the past few months.

The export value of the herring is believed to be in the region of five billion Icelandic krona (around £38-million sterling), according to fisheries newspaper Fiskifrettir. This is based on an estimated value of between £250 and £280 per tonne for herring, of which the bulk was landed for human consumption.

In the 1947-48 season, just under 167,000 tonnes of herring was landed in Iceland. Although the quota for the current season has all been taken, a number of seiners are still fishing on the additional five per cent of the quota they have been allowed to catch early, which will be deducted from next year's quota.

Meanwhile, the Norwegian fleet has landed 163,000 tonnes of herring so far, which represents 18 per cent of the total Atlantic-Scandian herring quota for the current fishing year.

Although the huge catches have led to a drop in herring prices, new markets are opening up for the fish especially in central European and Asian countries.

The area off the Møre coast in Norway is a key spawning area for the Atlanto-Scandian herring, but also a part of the world where oil companies are anxious to explore and have applied this summer for permits to carry out experimental drilling there and could lead to protests from fishermen. The issue is further complicated by the fact that this fishery covers an Atlantic sea area shared between Norway, the Faroes, Russia, Iceland - and the European Union countries.

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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