ICES has advised an increase in the Atlanto-Scandian herring quota that is 53% up on last year’s 384,197 tonne recommendation, taking the 2019 advice to 588,562 tonn
‘Based on new and accurate data, ICES has calculated that it is safe to fish more herring,’ said Atlanto-Scandian herring specialist Erling Kåre Stenevik at the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research.
He said that herring needs good recruitment years to build the stock, and in recent years this has generally been poor.
‘The last strong year class was 2004, and the 2013 year class was not bad. This is the one we see most of today,’ he said, commenting that the 2016 year class is not yet part of the herring fishery, but it appears to be stronger than average.
‘If quotas are adhered to, then this year class can help the decline of the stock,’ he said.
