BIG MACKEREL OFF THE EAST COAST

‘We’re just hauling now after our final and third tow, and we expect to be in Vopnafjördur tonight. If everything works out, we should have around 500 tonnes,’ said Hjalti Einarsson, skipper of Faxi RE, which was in a position on the Hvalbakur grounds off the east coast when we spoke to him.

‘The fishing has been fine and there’s plenty there. I’m on my first trip after a break and my impression is that there’s more mackerel on the fishing grounds than we have seen in previous years,’ he said, commenting that the mackerel are also in fine condition.

‘According to the samples we’ve taken, the average weight is 450 grammes, and this is fat, good-looking fish.’

He added that there is some herring as a by-catch with the mackerel, although the last haul of the trip was clean mackerel.

‘The herring stay closer inshore and we take care not to go too shallow,’ Hjalti Einarsson said.