NORWEGIAN FLEET BUSY SEEKING OUT MACKEREL

Norwegian fleet busy seeking out mackerel. Last week, the Norwegian fishing fleet found mackerel abundant both offshore and by the coast, and had a modest catches of 14,000 tonnes.

This quantity was from as many as 130 different boats with catches of one tonne to 450 tonnes for the largest catch. The best catch day was Wednesday with 3,400 t. The mackerel is relatively large with average weights from 388 g to 530 g, with a weighed average of 464 g.

Out in the Norwegian Sea, where the biggest boats have been hunting mackerel, there was a gale at the start of the week. When it eased, the anticipated bigger catches did not happen.

Since there was a lot of effort in the Norwegian Sea, a number of boats pulled into the British zone to try their luck there. Here, in the middle of the week, there were catches from both east and north of Shetland, which is early in the season for this fishery

On the coast where the smallest coastal fleet has fished from Sandnes (Rogaland) in the south to Åfjord (Trøndelag), there are also reports of less mackerel than last year. Last week, this fleet group fished just under 1,200 t, which is around half of last year’s quantity in the same week.
The sizes of the mackerel along the coast are in the range of 240 to 420 grams.

There will still be a large amount of effort for mackerel, both on the coast in the coming weeks. There is great faith that more mackerel will come from northern waters. Last year, the best mackerel week was in week 38, with a whopping 63,600 tonnes.

For North Sea herring, it is the foreign boats that contribute the main quantity. Of the total of 10,000 tonnes, a full 9,600 tonnes come from eight British boats. They have catches from 370 to 1,120 t. The herring from these boats is fine in size with average weights in the range of 200-230 grams.

The herring they are now fishing on is full of roe, and the catches have been taken close to land off Fraserburgh, the Orkney Islands and the east side of Shetland.

For Norwegian boats that have taken the remaining quantity, some have been taken on the coast, and some in both the Norwegian and British parts of the North Sea.

Photo:EMSPhoto/ Eivind Sævik (2023)