The overall catch landed by Brim’s fresher trawler Viðey last year came to a total of 10,177 tonnes. This is the first time that Icelandic trawlers landing catches in ice have reached this catch level.
As well as Viðey, Samherji trawler Björg also had a record 2019 with landings over 10,000 tonnes.
According to Viðey’s skipper Jóhannes Ellert Eiríksson, there were 57 trips in 2019, making an average of 180 tonnes per trip – not bad for a trawler with a fishroom capacity of 190 to 200 tonnes.
‘Last year was certainly a good one, but it’s not as if we can say that this year has started well. There’s constant bad weather, both at sea and ashore,’ he said as Viðey docked after its second trip of the year.
‘There was appalling weather the whole time, and the conditions kept us off the Westfjords grounds. We stuck to the south-west fishing grounds the whole time, which gives us some shelter from the north-easterly wind. The aim this time was to get as much haddock and saithe as possible, but the saithe were nowhere to be seen although we ended up mainly with golden redfish. This was a 100 tonne trip. That’s not a lot, but considering the conditions, we can be thankful for it,’ Jóhannes Ellert Eiríksson said as he was preparing to sail again.
