Happy rendezvous with a spotted wolffish

Asgeir Gunnarsson, Iceland most prominent expert on the spotted wolffish (Anarhichas minor), with his favourite fish species.

It was evidently a happy rendezvous between Ásgeir Gunnarsson, a specialist at MFRI with a spotted wolffish during the annual groundfish survey of MFRI´s Demersal division onboard the research vessel Arni Fridriksson. This annual research survey is known as the spring or March rally among the MFRI´s staff and the local fishing industry.

The condition of the spotted wolffish stock has deteriorated in recent years, which led MFRI to encourage fishermen to release spotted wolffish caught in excess of quota. Research shows that the survival rate of a caught and released spotted wolffish is considerable. It goes without saying that all the spotted wolffish caught during the survey were and will be released, with the exception of the few that are used for collecting otoliths for research purposes.

Sigurlina Gunnarsdóttir, Silje Elisabeth Seim and Asgeir Gunnarsson can be seen on the photos where they prepare release of a spotted wolffish after measurements. Survival experiments have also been carried out on the spotted wolffish during the survey, and attempts have been made to collect samples for parties considering spotted wolffish in aquaculture.