BIG INCREASE IN ICELANDIC CAPELIN CATCH IN FEBRUARY

Big increase in Icelandic capelin catch in February. The total catch of Icelandic vessels was 198 thousand tonnes in February 2022 of which capelin was 161 thousand tonnes, compared with 26 thousand tonnes in February 2021. Demersal catch was 36 thousand tonnes, 10 thousand tonnes less than in February the previous year.
In the 12 month period from March 2021 to February 2022 the total catch was 1,4 million tonnes which is 35% more than in same period one year earlier. Pelagic catch was 956 thousand tonnes and demersal catch was 456 thousand tonnes in that 12 month period.
According to preliminary data the catch in February 2022, at fixed price, was 25.7% more than in February 2021. BIG INCREASE IN ICELANDIC CAPELIN
Information about catch of fish are published as preliminary figures. The data is gathered by the Directorate of Fisheries.
Capelin (Mallotus villosus)
After the collapse of the herring stocks in the late 1960s, the Icelandic boats turned to capelin, previously virtually unfished. The capelin is possibly the most ecologically important fish in Icelandic waters. It has also become very important economically, with the yearly catch sometimes reaching 1 million tonnes. Capelin can often prove very baffling to Icelandic fishermen, for it sometimes just disappears completely without warning and then reappears in huge quantities in the least expected fishing grounds. There is one certain place to find at least four capelin, however: on the Icelandic 10-kroner coin!