Advice remains unchanged after the latest capelin survey

Figure 1. Polar Ammassak (pink) and Aðalsteinn Jónsson (blue) survey tracks during 24 February to 1 March 2025 northwest of Iceland and distribution of capelin (length of the perpendicular lines to the survey tracks indicates the capelin density).
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The pelagic fishing vessels Aðalsteinn Jónsson and Polar Ammassak collaborated with the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (MFRI)  in capelin surveys last week. The aim was to determine whether more capelin had entered the northwestern waters since the previous survey in early February. The amount of capelin measured this time was slightly lower than in the previous survey, indicating that no new capelin had entered the area. Therefore, MFRI previous fishing advice of 8 589 tons of capelin for the current fishing season remains unchanged.

Most of the capelin was found on the banks off Húnaflói and Skagafjörður (Figure 1). MFRI does not plan any further capelin surveys this winter.