Proposals by Iceland’s Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (MFRI) to advise a 4% cut to next year’s cod quota haven’t been received with delight by the industry, as the Institute released its recommendations for more than twenty species for the 2025-26 quota year, which begins on 1st September.
The MFRI advice is for the cod quota for next year to be set at 203,822 tonnes, down from the current year’s quota of 213,214 tonnes, alongside a warning that the cod reference biomass can be expected to drop further over the coming two to three years.
According to an Institute spokesperson, this is because 2021 and 2022 cohorts are estimated to be below average year classes and will fully enter the reference biomass this year and next year. The 2019 to 2021 cohorts are slow growing – which could be attributed to the poor state of the capelin stock, which is an important forage fish for cod.
As well as its recommendations for cod, the Institute advises a 3% increase for haddock to 78,918 tonnes, a 17% increase for Greenland halibut to 20,992 tonnes, an 11% reduction for saithe to 59,510 tonnes, a 12% reduction for golden redfish for the East Greenland/Iceland/Faroe Islands zone to 41,345 tonnes, with a warning that due to the predicted decline of the redfish spawning stock biomass, further reductions can be expected in coming years. The advice for demersal beaked (deep) redfish remains for a zero catch.
For pelagic stocks, the current advice for the next capelin season stands at 46,384 tonnes, although this stands to be updated prior to the season and is also frequently updated while fishing is in progress, and MFRI also recommends a 27% increase in Icelandic summer-spawning herring to 103,367 tonnes, with the proviso that reductions can be expected in subsequent years as the strong 2017 and 2019 year classes decrease and substantially weaker year classes join the reference biomass.
