The Norwegian Mackerel Season Has Begun, With Faroe Islands Blue Cod Unloading At A New High For The Year.

Norwegian deep-sea fishing for small, mid-to-upper-level fish is gradually heating up.

 

In week 19, small fishing vessels along the Norwegian coast officially began their new season's fresh mackerel fishing for sale, while Faroe Islands blue sardine fleets concentrated their unloading at southern Norwegian ports, with single-vessel arrivals of large blue sardines setting a new record for the year. Meanwhile, North Sea herring fishing progress remains slow, with low water temperatures continuing to affect the fish's plumpness.

 

The mackerel market has started operating first

Last week, eight small coastal fishing vessels in Norway participated in mackerel fishing, with a total catch of 17.6 tons. The main fishing areas were located between Alver in Vestland County and Strand in Rogaland County.

 

Currently, the mackerel on the market is primarily supplied to the fresh market.

The catch is relatively uniform in size, with individual fish weighing between 400-500 grams, and the product goes directly to local fresh fish consumption channels.

The Norwegian herring sales organization (Sildelaget) stated that fresh mackerel is currently maintaining a daily auction mechanism on weekdays, with auctions taking place from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

 

Compared to the recent surge in mackerel fishing activity, the blue cod market was more active this week

In week 19, three Faroe Islands fishing vessels declared blue cod unloading at Norwegian ports, totaling 8,503 tons.

Among them, the large Faroe Islands vessel Christian i Grøtinum unloaded 3,505 tons, marking the largest single-ship blue cod arrival in the Norwegian market this year.

This batch of blue cod was all caught in Faroe Islands waters and subsequently transported to the Prima Protein AS plant in Egersund, Norway, for processing.

Blue cod remains a crucial source of raw materials for the Nordic fishmeal and fish oil industry.

With the Faroe Islands and Norwegian fleets entering their peak production phase, the supply of Nordic fishmeal raw materials is increasing recently. However, the international fishmeal market remains high, with tight supplies from Peru continuing to support global marine raw material prices.

Regarding horse mackerel, production remains limited.

Last week, the fishing vessel Austfjordgut caught only 2 tons of mackerel in the Alver waters, with an average weight of about 400 grams per fish, and the overall size remained relatively stable.

 

North Sea herring production remains slow.

Small-scale fishing has begun. Last week, the fishing vessel Fiskaren caught 800 kg of North Sea herring in the Alver waters of Vestland County, with an average weight of about 300 grams per fish.

 

However, large-scale production has not yet truly commenced.

Industry monitoring data shows that North Sea herring caught by the fishing vessel Straumbas at the end of April still had low fat content and was generally lean, not yet reaching ideal processing conditions.

 

Currently, the industry generally believes that the persistently low temperatures in the North Sea are the main reason affecting the fatness of the herring.

 

Due to low sea temperatures and insufficient sunshine, the growth rate of plankton is slow, resulting in poor feeding conditions for the herring and insufficient fat accumulation.

 

For the Norwegian herring industry, subsequent weather changes will directly affect the production schedule of the new season.

Normally, as sea temperatures rise and plankton increases, herring quickly enters the fattening stage, and the quality of the fish improves significantly. Processing companies are currently waiting for more stable warming conditions.

 

Judging from the current market pace, the production of mid-to-upper-level fish in Norway has gradually begun, but overall it is still in the early stages of the season.

 

Mackerel has just entered the fresh market, blue cod has been the first to see increased supply, while North Sea herring is still waiting for more suitable sea conditions and food sources. In the coming weeks, changes in water temperature in the Northern European waters will remain a crucial variable affecting the subsequent production of herring and mackerel.