Norway’s Institute of Marine Research has recommended that this year’s Barents Sea shrimp quota should not exceed 153,000 tonnes. This represents a 13,000 tonne incrase over the 2022 quota.
Despite the advised quota increase, this is still far in excess of actual catch levels, which in recent years have been around 60,000 tonnes annually.
‘The shrimp population has fluctuated over time, but remained at a strong level. With good shrimp prices, catches have picked up in recent years, and the fishery has once again become one of the largest shrimp fisheries in the North Atlantic,’ said lead researcher Carsten Hvingel.
Until fairly recently, around 90% of Barents Sea shrimp catches were taken by the Norwegian fleet, although there has been an increasing interest from fleets of other nations in the shrimp fishery.
‘The total catch has been stable in recent years, while the proportion taken by Norwegian fishermen and those from other countries has varied,’ Carsten Hvingel said, commenting that the shrimp stock is in a healthy state.
‘The shrimp quota increased considerably in 2020, but catches in recent years have remained stable at a much lower level. Today we have a shrimp population that is exploited sustainably,’ he said.
Image: Øystein Paulsen / Institute of Marine Research
