Image: Vidar Larsen/Svanaug Elise (2023)/Norges Sildesalgslag/FIS

The Norwegian Pelagic Fishing Course in Week 5

NORWAY
Tuesday, February 07, 2023, 01:00 (GMT + 9)

This week started well for the NVG herring and we have had a few entries for capelin, however the weather has put a stop to the fisheries now, so then we just have to wait for brighter times

NVG herring

This week, the registered quantity picked up somewhat from last week and more than 18,000 tonnes of NVG herring have been registered in the journal. The best registration day was Monday with 8,800 tonnes. Of the week's quantity, purse seine accounted for 4,500 t, trawl 10,000 t and coastal 2,500 tonnes.

The fishing in the north has also taken place this week both at sea, west of Senja, and inside Kvænangen. This year the herring have spent much longer in Kvænangen than they usually do, but on Thursday we had the last catch from Kvænangen and large quantities of herring have now been registered on their way south. Normally, the herring has spawned along the Mørekysten and on Buagrunnen, but in recent years the herring has also started spawning further north, so where it will end up this year remains to be seen. The spawn percentage is now around 15-16 per cent, so it is still a bit early, as it is usually in excess of 20 per cent at spawning.

Photo: Vidar Larsen/Svanaug Elise (2023)/Norges Sildesalgslag

As mentioned, there are fewer and fewer boats active on the herring as much of the purse seiner fleet is at the headland in Iceland, many of the larger coastal boats have prioritized cod and the smallest fleet has finished. But there has been a steady stream of catches all this week - until Thursday, then there was some weather in the fields, which will also affect the fishery this week, at least until the weekend.

Capelin

At the start of the week the capelin was very deep, but a couple of boats got a few small catches. On the other hand, large quantities of capelin have been registered and those who have been in the right place at the right time have had some good casts. Among other things, one boat got over 900 tonnes in one throw. A total of 6,790 tonnes of solder have been registered in the journal this week.

This week it also became known that the quota in Iceland is increasing by 57,000 tonnes, which means an increase of well over 5,000 tonnes for the Norwegian boats.

Good records have therefore been made with capelin, we have had a number of catches, but it is still early and the percentage of roe is around 8-9 per cent and the average size of catch is around 40 pieces/kg.

The fleet is now ashore due to the "nice" winter weather, which will probably also affect all the fisheries this week.

Other species

There have been a couple of reports of horse mackerel (29 tonnes) from Vestland and Rogaland and some coastal sprat has arrived from the Oslofjord (12t).

As I said, this week will be marked by bad weather, but we'll see if the wind doesn't die down a bit towards the weekend.  

Author/Source: Camilla Klævold / Norges Sildesalgslag (translated from original in norwegian0

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