THE Icelandic-Norwegian hering season is drawing to an end, but the Icelandic fleet has not exhausted its full quota.
The country was given a catch total of 250,000 tons of which just over 200,000 tones (four fifths of the quota) had been caught, leading a further 440,000 tons to be taken up, mainly in Norwegian waters.
The herring fishery is shared by several countries including Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and all European Union member state who want to venture that far north, with Iceland taking just over 14 per cent of the total catch. The quota for the new fishing year will be set in the few weeks.
The view of most fishing companies is that herring fish this season has highly productive for the most part.
Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson, head of HB Grandi’s pelagic division. said: 'Fishing in Icelandic waters has been excellent this summer and it’s very unlikely that we will need to make use of the fishing rights we have to take part of our quotas in Norwegian waters.'
He said that one of his trawler, the Ingunn AK, landed 1, 000 tonnes after a trip last week while another, the Lundsey NS, came home with 900 tonnes. Most of the catch is frozen when it reaches the Iceland factory.
He said vessels had had mixed fortunes lately. 'Some have had good results in a short time and others have had to work harder for their fish,' he added. 'But we have still had a fine season.'
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