ICES recommendations for North Sea demersal fisheries in 2019 show good news for saithe, hake and plaice, but the situation for cod looks confused as spawning stocks appear weaker than had been predicted, and one fishermen’s association is wondering where more than 100,000 tonnes of cod has disappeared to.
ICES has recommended that the cod quota in the Barents Sea should not exceed 674,678 tonnes next year. This is a reduction of 100,000 tonnes in relation to this year's quota. According to Geir Huse at the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research, a natural decline in stocks has to be taken into consideration.
‘There’s a closure along the south coast for the spawning season, so I decided we’d try our luck off the Westfjords. But it hasn’t been a great trip and cod are thin on the ground these days,’ said Eiríkur Jónsson who skippers HB Grandi’s trawler Akurey.
Setting up production for groundfish in the north-eastern port of Vopnafjörður has provided a lifeline for employment in the region. HB Grandi is the remote port’s largest employer and Vopnafjörður with its proximity to the grounds where much of the pelagic fisheries take place was chosen as the focus for the company’s pelagic processing and fishmeal production. But these fisheries are highly seasonal, resulting in fluctuations in earnings. Adding groundfish processing to the profile has taken out the peaks and troughs, providing steady employment year-round.
According to Norges Råfisklag, sales of landed fish in Norway were worth NoK11.40 billion last year, the Norwegian industry’s second highest year ever, and following the record-breaking sales figures of NoK11.50 billion in 2016. Norwegian fishing vessels accounted for NoK9.50 billion of this total, up on last year’s NoK9.10 billion figure.
Síldarvinnslan’s production plant in Seyðisfjörður last year took delivery of 2625 tonnes of groundfish for processing; 1980 tonnes of cod and 491 tonnes of saithe.
Norway and Russia have agreed on quotas for cod, haddock, capelin, Greenland halibut and redfish, as well as improved conditions for carrying out fishing research activities in each other's zones.
Icelandic independent fisheries scientist Jón Kristjánsson has lashed out at modern fisheries management methods, saying that management has failed to deliver in to its promises of more fish and better fishing.
A new seine netter/trawler built in Poland for Norwegian owners is the latest development for a family-run fishing company in the north of Norway.
Following the certification of Danish cod fisheries in 2016, the MSC has given North Sea cod its seal of approval as a sustainable fishery.