Figures for the first ten months of this year detailing Iceland’s seafood exports demonstrate the importance of the capelin fishery to the country’s fishing sector.
Seafood export values this year totalled ISK287 billion to the end of October, a roughly 3% drop over the same period in 2023, and the root cause is largely down to the failure of last winter’s capelin fishery. With capelin taken out of the equation, export values have risen by around 4%, and in terms of pelagic production alone, there’s a drop of 17%. Excluding capelin, pelagic product exports have otherwise risen by 9%.
In terms of groundfish production, cod and haddock account for the increase in this sector. Cod products were valued at ISK119 billion over the first ten months of 2024 – up 4% on last year, while haddock export values are up 22%. Redfish is down 7% and saithe by 2%.
A higher haddock quota is a key factor, and the demand on overseas markets for high-value fresh haddock has increased steadily in recent years. Export values of fresh production have approximately doubled since 2019.
