Icelandic Fisheries Minister Kristján Thór Júlíusson has acted on the legislation that allows 5.3% of the overall quota to be held back for a range of particular purposes, including supporting coastal communities, quota markups for longliners, coastal fisheries, support for shrimp and shellfish vessels, sport fisheries and to met other temporary requirements.
This year the Minister has allocated a green weight of 32,380 tonnes (25,456 cod-equivalent tonnes) for the 2018-19 quota year that begins on the first of September. This is a reduction compared to the 33,145 green weight tonnes (26,362 cod-equivalent tonnes) allocated last year for the current quota year.
According to the Ministry of Fisheries, the reduction is due to changes in the index between species as the average price of cod has risen compared to the average prices of other species. In addition, the figure is based on cautious predictions for pelagic species next year.
Despite the reduction, the allocations remain largely unchanged. as in the current quota year, next year’s coastal fisheries are allocated a 10,200 tonne quota, which is a reduction in cod-equivalent terms from 8309 to 8228 tonnes.
Allocations for district quotas drop slightly from 6225 cod-equivalent tonnes to 6167 tonnes and the allocation for shrimpers and shellfish vessels goes from 2042 cod-equivalent tonnes to 1990 tonnes. The quota set aside for sport fishing remains static at 336 cod-equivalent tonnes.
The chief reduction is in the bonus quotas for longliners, dropping from 4568 cod-equivalent tonnes in 2017-18 to 3855 tonnes next year, and this reduction is explained as being based on the take-up rate for the longline bonus quotas in the current year.
