February 23, 2017 — Heavy fishing has been reported in the cod and capelin grounds off of Iceland following the end of a labor strike that lasted more than two months.
A close vote in the early morning hours of Saturday, 18 February, resulted in several fishermen’s unions coming to an agreement with Fisheries Iceland, which represents the country’s commercial sector. The deal, which tackled a number of issues but particularly focused on falling pay for fishermen, was approved with 52.4 percent of the vote, with 53.7 percent of voters participating, according to the Iceland Review.
Iceland’s fleet wasted little time setting sail, with some boats leaving port Saturday evening and the remainder heading out on Sunday, 19 February. Fishing was excellent for HB Grandi, with both its Venus and Vikingur quickly catching their holds full of capelin, the company said. But HB Grandi, which controls 18 percent of Iceland’s capelin quota, only has a few days to catch as much of its 33,423-metric-ton quota before the season ends. Garðar Svavarsson, manager of HB Grandi’s pelagic division, said it would be tight.
“It’s clear that we are going to have our hands full for the next few weeks to catch the company’s quotas, but we’re confident that we can do it,’” he said in a blog post on the company website.
Svavarsson said the strike had hurt some markets, but that roe prices in Japan were currently high and that most of its product would be sourced for that market.