Three boats will be given a permit to fish sea cucumbers in each of three sea cucumber fishing territories in Icelandic waters this year. In previous years only one boat, Hannes Andrésson SH, has caught sea cucumbers with an experimental license.
Fishing in Iceland. Copyright: Icelandic Photo Agency.
The captain of Hannes Andrésson SH has found most of the fishing territories. The boat catches sea cucumbers on behalf of the company Reykkofinn in Grundarfjördur, west Iceland, which dries the catch and exports it to Asia, Morgunbladid reports.
Managing director of Reykkofinn Kári Pétur Ólafsson said it is risky to allow three boats to catch sea cucumbers in each of the three fishing grounds.
Ólafsson is concerned that there won’t be enough catch for everyone and that the sea cucumber processing in Grundarfjördur won’t be able to operate year-round anymore.
The Directorate of Fisheries has called for applications for sea cucumber fishing licenses.
