Photo: Asgeir Høgset, Kristian Dahl, Even Bowitz/Norges Sildesalgslag

Norges Sildesalgslag: Summary of the Blue Whiting Fishery 2024

NORWAY
Thursday, April 18, 2024, 01:00 (GMT + 9)

An adventurous blue whiting fishing in the international zone this year as well.

The year started with boats from both Norway, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland fishing in Faroe waters. Blue whiting was initially spread out, and the fishing was uneven with long tows for the boats. During week two, 8,900 tonnes were registered, divided between three Norwegian boats, Steinevik, Endre Dyrøy and Kvannøy, which fished 3,500 t, and two Faroese boats with 5,400 t.

During week three, some boats started to move west of Ireland, and Birkeland brought in the first entry of the year on 20 January from the area around 54 degrees. Good fishing was reported in the few weather windows that the boats had, and most of the catches were taken in the EU zone 100 nautical miles west of Ireland, on the northern edge of the famous Porcupine Bank. All blue whiting has gone into fishmeal and oil, as we in Norway mainly use it as a raw material in, among other things, salmon feed.

Study locations on the Porcupine Bank, west of Ireland. Porcupine Bank is an area of the Irish shelf, on the fringes of the Atlantic Ocean approximately 200 kilometres west of Ireland.

Good numbers in February

When the season picked up at the end of January and into February, it was adventurous fishing in the international zone. Blue whiting was placed in dense concentrations during this period, which meant that large quantities were caught in few and short trawl hauls.

February in particular, stood out very much due to the high quantity fished that month. A total of 224,365 tonnes were registered, and you have to go back to 2006 to find a similar quantity when 220,000 tonnes were fished.

The last entry from the international zone came on 4 March, and then the blue whiting began to move into the EU zone, northwest of Ireland. The last catch from the EU zone came on 5 April, and now the fishing is mostly taking place in the Faroese zone and on the "edge". During the last week, 5,457 tonnes were registered, and so far this week 11,090 tonnes have been registered, which means that there remain 38,974 tonnes of the Norwegian quota of a total of 372,641 tonnes.

Photo: Asgeir Høgset, Kristian Dahl, Even Bowitz/Norges Sildesalgslag

Participation

In this year's blue whiting fishing, the participation among the various vessel groups has been as follows:

The purse seiner group has participated with 47 boats, trawl with 14 boats and coastal with 3 boats. In addition, we have entries from 11 foreign boats. The average price has been around NOK 3.55.

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