An Icelandic fishermen has spoken of his experiences, warning that fishing for cod is more difficult than in the past.
Friðleifur Einarsson, skipper of the Helga María, fishes for redfish and saithe off Reykjanes and cod further afield in the Westfjords grounds off northwestern Iceland.
‘We’re on the way north to the Westfjords grounds after taking our allocation of redfish and saithe close to home,” he said. “Now we’ll be looking for cod. There’s a storm blowing off the Westfjords right now, but the weather is moderating and we’re hoping there will be good conditions when we get there.”
The trip began off Reykjanes south of Reykjavík. ‘We had a day and a half on the mountains and had ten hauls there for 75 tonnes, which was enough for our redfish and saithe allocation,” he said. “The golden redfish stock is strong, but it’s difficult to tell with saithe. Saithe are unpredictable, they come and go and you can hit some good fishing if you’re in the right place at the right time.’
But cod is becoming harder to find than in the past. ‘They seem to come and go. The fishing can pop up one day, and then there’ll be nothing the next. In general, the cod seem to have shifted eastwards and the fleet has moved from the Hali grounds east to the Strandagrunn to search for cod. Then there’s some cod off the north coast, but there are so few of us fishing for it that it’s hard to be sure of its distribution,’ he said.
