HB Grandi’s freezer trawler Venus HF is now west of Látrabjarg, two weeks into its last trip, after which is has been decided to mothball the ship when it docks on the 9 of July.
According to skipper Gudmundur Jónsson, Venus has been fishing off the Westfjords, has been as far east as Húnaflói and into the Víkuráll fishing grounds. He said that catches have been variable.
"We were sent to get mainly redfish and saithe, and as little haddock and cod as possible. It’s a plan that didn’t fit in with the scientists’ ideas, as it doesn’t seem to matter where we go, there’s cod in the way and plenty of it. It’s the same whether we’re looking for redfish off the Víkuráll or saithe anywhere else. There’s always cod in the mix," Gudmundur Jónsson said.
"Taking into account what fishermen are seeing on the fishing grounds, it seems clear enough that the quota allocations aren’t going to work out. The cod quota needs to be increased significantly just so that we will be able to catch species such as redfish and saithe effectively."
