Coastal fishing ends after record quota allocation

Coastal fishing ended on Wednesday after a 55-day season with 42 fishing days, mbl.is reports. The Icelandic Directorate of Fisheries has halted the fishery, with 364 tonnes remaining from the total allocation of 14,314 tonnes.

The average daily catch has been about 270 tonnes, meaning Wednesday’s fishing was expected to use almost all of the remaining quota.

Örn Pálsson, managing director of the National Association of Small Boat Owners, said fishing normally ends before the issued quota is exceeded.

Nearly 100 tonnes of the allocated quota are likely to remain unused. The association has asked the infrastructure minister to transfer that amount to a line-fishing incentive, adding it to the quota of boats that bait their lines and sort the catch ashore.

Örn said the extra quota could provide welcome additional access to cod fishing in August, as the existing allocations had been exhausted some time ago. It would also allow the remaining coastal fishing quota to be used.

“It is absolutely necessary to use all the allocations,” he said.

Coastal fishing has never accounted for as large a share as it does this year. At the beginning of August, acting Infrastructure Minister Inga Sæland signed a regulation increasing the cod allocation for coastal fishing by 964 tonnes.

“The association then asked for 100 tonnes to go to the line-fishing incentive,” Örn said. “That request was not granted at the time, but it could now be possible if this much is left over.”

Örn said the season had otherwise gone very well, although catches had been unevenly distributed between regions. The largest catches per boat were recorded in fishing areas B and C, which extend from the eastern Westfjords to Djúpivogur in the Eastfjords.

In area A, covering Breiðafjörður and the Westfjords, fishers had more difficulty reaching the 774-kilogram catch limit than in recent years.

“That is naturally due both to the weather and to the fish not being as willing to take the hooks as in previous years,” Örn said. “Still, it has been a good catch in its own right, and coastal fishing has never produced a larger catch than this year.”

Coastal fishers are also pleased with the additional allocation, he said. Receiving six or seven fishing days in August, together with the full month of July, had been a major benefit.

Örn said the aim was for fishing to continue throughout August, which would create full equality between regions. Fish abundance in the north and northeast had been better than in recent years, he said.

He also said he had no doubt that coastal fishing would receive a larger share in the future. The fishery has operated since 2009, and this year showed that the current government wanted to strengthen it.

The government coalition agreement includes a provision guaranteeing 48 coastal fishing days, and this year came close to achieving that target, Örn said. A market had also emerged over the summer for 13,000 to 15,000 tonnes of cod.

Prices for the catch showed that the fish had been handled well, he said, adding that the market was also demanding this type of fish.