‘Our experience of the T90 mackerel codend rigged on DynIce Quicklines has been very good and that applies to our fishing on both mackerel and herring. We see that the fish pass down into the gear into the codend and live longer there that in other codend types, and that has to be a benefit in terms of better and fresher raw material,’ said Hálfdán Hálfdánarson, who skippers pelagic vessel Börkur opposite Hjörvar Hjálmarsson.

They have both been involved in the development of T90 codends rigged on Quicklines, along with staff from operating company Síldarvinnslan and specialist staff from Fjarðanet in Akureyri, which is a division of Hampiðjan Ísland ehf.

The T90 codend rigged on DynIce Quicklines was first introduced in 2016 and was tried out that summer on board Beitir. This was an experimental development project between Fjarðanet and Síldarvinnslan, and a number of changes and adjustments were made following the end of the mackerel season that autumn. The decision was taken to continue the development on board Börkur the following year. The result has been that the skippers have been satisfied with the experience with this gear. Subsea filming of the codend while fishing on mackerel highlighted several new and interesting aspects that made the necessary adjustments easier.

Among the advantages of the T90 codend are that the meshes remain well open. According to Hálfdán Hálfdánarson, this means that there is a good flow through and the fish pass faster back to the codend. This leaves a clear way out for small fish.

‘The flow through the codend is very good and it pumps out well. The main difference that we see is that the fish live longer in this codend, and although it hasn’t been confirmed by production ashore, this has to bring dividends in fresher raw material and better quality,’ Hálfdán Hálfdánarson said.

The same system of T90 codends with Quickline frame lines is also used on board Westman Islands pelagic vessel Sigurður for both mackerel and herring. Beitir also has a T90 codend, without the Quicklines, according to Tómas Kárason who skippers Beitir opposite Sturlu Thórðarson. He said that they have the same experience with this as Börkur’s skippers, and it is noticeable how efficiently the codend filters water through as the meshes are kept open all the time.