Brim reports large quantities of redfish and cod

Fishing company Brim hf. has reported large quantities of redfish on the Hali grounds, as the company's freshwater trawler Akurey docked in Reykjavík earlier this week. The ship's skipper, Eiríkur Jónsson, described "huge amounts of golden redfish" and noted that two unexpectedly large catches significantly impacted the trip's progression near the end of the quota year.

At the start of the trip, the main catch in the Hali grounds consisted of cod and saithe. Due to the significant redfish hauls, the skipper decided to move the fishing operations to the Thverálshorn area, where further catches of cod and saithe were made. Subsequently, the vessel relocated to shallower waters off Patreksfjörður in search of more cod.

In the shallower waters off Patreksfjörður, large quantities of high-quality cod were observed, along with a notable increase in haddock. According to Jónsson, this pattern repeated itself from the previous year; cod were present to prey on herring during their spawning season, and haddock arrived to feed on the herring's eggs.

For practical reasons, the fishing grounds were changed again. Towards the end of the voyage, the vessel sailed to the Skerja Deeps in search of deep-water redfish. Two hauls were made there, yielding between 12 and 14 tonnes of deep-water redfish. The total catch for the entire trip amounted to 170 tonnes, comprising cod, saithe, golden redfish, haddock, and deep-water redfish.