Iceland’s Minister of Fisheries Kristján Thór Júlíusson has signed legislation increasing this quota year’s haddock quota by 8000 tonnes.
This increases the haddock quota for the 2020-21 quota year from 44,419 tonnes to 52,419 tonnes and this additional quota will be taken from the 2021-22 quota.
The reasons for the decision include the difficulties the industry is facing to the abundance of haddock on Icelandic fishing grounds. By 21st April, 90% of haddock quotas had already been caught.
The Institute of Marine Research and the Directory of Fisheries have both stressed the importance of addressing the situation.
‘The Institute of Marine Research does not oppose increasing the haddock quota for the current quota year, as these allocations will be drawn from quotas that would otherwise be allocated for 2021-22, according to agreed catch rules,’ the Institute stated, while also pointing out that an increase now could lead to a similar problem occurring next year, such that it is important to make clear this increase comes out of next year’s quota.
‘Such a message alongside this allocation should discourage direct fishing on the haddock stock which could increase the likelihood of a problem during the next quota year,’ the Institute stated.
