A FINE SHIP, BUT FISHING IS SLOW

Venus NS, the newest vessel to join the Icelandic fleet, is now fishing blue whiting south-east of the Faroes along with several others on the same grounds. According to skipper Gudlaugur Jónsson, the ship and all its equipment are in fine order, but catch rates have been low.

‘We sailed on Friday morning and had a short tow on Saturday. There wasn’t much of a catch, just a few tonnes, but we had no problem in pumping the fish over the stern. Yesterday started well until there was a problem with the gear fouled, so when we hauled it back, there wasn’t much there. After that the fishing dropped off and we just hope it’ll pick up,’ he said, adding that there is now good weather after a rough day yesterday.

As well as Venus, two of HB Grandi’s other pelagic vessels, Ingunn AK and Faxi RE, are fishing for blue whiting and Gudlaugur Jónsson said that Faxi would be likely to be steaming home tonight to land.