Fishing vessel Börkur NK likely broke an Icelandic record when it landed 3,409 tonnes of capelin in Seyðisfjörður last week. The capelin had been caught over four days, and it took 18 hours to transfer it onto land. There are only two other vessels in the Icelandic fleet that could land a catch of similar size.
Fish processing company Síldarvinnslan hf. posted about the catch last week, saying that only Börkur’s sister ship Vilhelm Þorsteinsson EA, as well as Beitir NK, would have the capacity to land such a large catch (with Beitir having significantly less cargo space than the other two ships).
Eggert Ólafur Einarsson, factory manager of Síldvarvinnslan in Seyðisfjörður, says the capelin is high-grade. “This is quality material and the processing is going very well. There’s good fishing now and the processing is going very well,” Eggert stated, adding that the company was preparing to land from another vessel, Barði.
Capelin catch quotas issued by the Icelandic Marine and Freshwater Research Institute have fluctuated in recent years, with no quota at all being issued in the 2019-2020 season. Last year’s quota was issued late, but later increased several times after research expeditions detected more fish.
Hálfdan Hálfdanarson, who sat in the captain’s chair when Börkur headed out to sea once more, stated that the crew’s spirits were high. “Everyone’s in high spirits here on board, since we’re experiencing a real capelin season.”
