Until now, mackerel has not been considered a commercial stock in Icelandic waters, as its habitat is mainly off the East Coast of North America, in the North Sea, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. In recent years, however, Icelandic herring fishing vessels have become increasingly aware of mackerel, and vessels have caught mackerel mixed with Norwegian-Icelandic herring east of the country in late summer. Mackerel is a very valuable fish and the price is often over 100 ISK / kg. for fresh autumn fish caught in processing and for frozen gutted fish caught during the summer. At Matís, a project called Fishing, sorting, processing and markets for mackerel caught by pelagic vessels is now being launched.
The aim of this project is to study the fishing of pelagic fishing vessels for mackerel in Icelandic waters, make measurements of shape, come up with solutions on how to sort the mackerel from other fish on board and how to process it in freezer vessels. The equipment options necessary for the processing will be analyzed, and markets for mackerel caught in Icelandic waters will also be explored according to the seasons. The aim is for the project to produce frozen Icelandic mackerel products, but they have not been produced so far.
Fisheries will be able to use the results of the project as support if they intend to start mackerel fishing with herring fishing in Iceland, this project will also prepare the fisheries if the growing mackerel supply in Icelandic waters proves to be long-term.
Project manager is Ragnheiður Sveinþórsdóttir.