Photo: Johannes Røttingen/Norges Sildesalgslag

The Norwegian Pelagic Fishing Course in Week 44

NORWAY
Monday, November 04, 2024, 07:00 (GMT + 9)

Lower quantities of herring in the north, and happy mackerel fishing on the coast in the west.

NVG herring:

With many boats finished with their herring quota, we got a significantly smaller weekly quantity. From all groups, 18,900 tonnes have been fished in the north. A total of 43 different boats fished for herring last week.

The boats in the coastal group have contributed the most with 10,100 t, purse seines 7,800 t and trawls have fished 1,000 t.

Herring fishing has mainly taken place at Kvænangen after an area within the fjord lines was opened. Catches have also been taken outside the fjord lines on both the west and east sides of Arnøya.

On Friday, the Directorate of Fisheries extended the opening of seine fishing to the whole of Kvænangen and Reisafjorden.

From the fishermen, they report that the herring have been deep and partly scattered, so many have had to make many casts to ensure a usable quantity. Periodically there has been wind on the fjord.

We now register that the sizes vary more in the herring catches, where the lowest average weight is 212 g and the highest is 350 g. A weighed section shows 307 grams. The catches with the smallest herring are taken at the far end of Kvænangen, so the smaller sizes come in last, as we normally see when the herring migrates.

A glance at the quota picture shows that 205,400 t of the quota of 252,000 t have now been fished. It is the coastal group that has the most left, as they alone have 41,700 t left. For the other groups, the remaining amount is modest.

It will therefore be the coastal boats that will dominate the entry journal in the coming week.

The long-term weather forecast is not the best, so storms can hamper fishing for the week.

The first of the smallest boats that need a guide boat will arrive in the area at the weekend, and we can hope that the herring will be available even for those with the shallowest nets.

Mackerel:

It was a mackerel week on par with the previous two with 13,600 tonnes in the record. The weather has been rough last week and there have only been a few days of fishing. Tuesday was the best day with 5,900 t.

As expected, it is foreign boats that have contributed the most. From nine different boats from Scotland/Shetland, we have a quantity of 11,200 t. For Norwegian vessels, purse seines have fished 1,000 t, SUK 300 t, and from the coastal group we have 1,100 t.

Fishing in the North Sea has taken place in the British zone on well-known mackerel fields southeast of Shetland. The sizes of the mackerel from here vary from a minimum of 305 g to a maximum of 430 g, with a weighed average of 405 g.

On the coast, it has been a positive week with good catches, and in total over 400 t have been fished. Especially in the area west of Bergen, the mackerel have gathered and several good catches have been taken. The mackerel here has also been large mackerel with average weights of around 400 g.

We now see that a total of 248,000 t have been fished by Norwegian vessels this year. This is 11,000 t more than this year's quota. This means that more boats have fished for next year's quota as they have the opportunity to, within 10%.

Modest mackerel quantities are expected in the coming weeks.

North Sea herring:

For North Sea herring, where this year we have a quota of 150,000 t, there is still more than 20,000 t left.

It is mainly the ring net group, where several boats have quota left, that will have to fish for North Sea herring in the future.

Last week, 2,600 tonnes were caught, with all but a catch of 755 tonnes coming from Norwegian boats.

For the Norwegian boats, fishing has taken place on well-known herring banks in the Egersundbanken/Revet area.

Herring are difficult to register during the day, and the best fishing has been at night. The sizes vary from 135-202 grams, and most catches are sold for human consumption.

There are good weather forecasts for the week, and we therefore expect that more people will hunt for herring. We are keeping our fingers crossed that it is collected and available for not.

Blue whiting/Norway Pout etc:

Only two boats have fished on "Kanten" (edge) last week and in total they have fished 4,000 t of blue whiting, 60 t of silver smelt and 35 t of Norway pout.

Author/Source: Kenneth Garvik/Norges Sildesalgslag

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www.seafood.media

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