Mackerel fishing season sees significant decline across Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Russia, and Norway

The mackerel fishing season has seen a significant decline this year, according to the Shipowners’ Association, which has compiled data on fishing activities from the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Russia, and Norway.

Faroe Islands vessels commenced fishing about a month ago, reporting a catch of 17,448 tons so far. This marks a sharp decrease compared to last year, when Faroese ships had already landed over 142,000 tons by the end of August. Notably, last year’s fishing began much earlier, in May-June.

The quota for Faroese vessels this year is set at 68,535 tons.

In contrast, Icelandic ships began their mackerel fishing significantly earlier than those from the Faroe Islands, managing to catch 87,982 tons out of a total quota of 121,999 tons.

Four vessels from Greenland are currently fishing for mackerel in international waters, where many Russian ships are also active. As of August 19, Greenland had caught 10,382 tons of its allocated quota of 48,060 tons, which includes fishing in both international and Icelandic waters.

Norwegian vessels, both large commercial ships and smaller boats, began fishing a month ago and have reported a catch of 49,120 tons out of a total quota of 211,827 tons.

For Russia, the quota stands at 111,560 tons, but it remains unclear how much has been caught thus far. Reportedly, around 7,000 tons have been fished in Faroese waters.