The entire crew of trawler Brettingur NS-50 from Vopnafjördur, east Iceland, has been dismissed, meaning 2.2 percent of jobs in the town, with a population of 800, are lost.
According to Fréttabladid, fishery HB Grandi gave notice to all 16 seaman who work aboard Brettingur. The trawler will be pulled ashore in early March 2007 and will not be replaced by another one.
Thorsteinn Steinsson, head of the district council, said this blow for the economy in Vopnafjördur was unanticipated. The council has requested a meeting with HB Grandi in hopes that the fishery reconsiders its decision.
Steinsson explained that 16 people simultaneously losing their jobs in Vopnafjördur is comparable to 2,300 people losing their jobs in Reykjavík.
Director of HB Grandi Eggert B. Gudmundsson told Fréttabladid that the decision is final and in accordance with the fishery’s catch permit. He said he intends to find a profitable solution for all involved.
