The Icelandic Marine Research Institute recommends that overall quota for cod fishing be reduced from 205 thousand tonnes this year to 198 thousand tonnes next year. It estimates the overall breeding stock of cod at 262 thousand tonnes, the largest breeding stock since 1981. However, the average size of cod has decreased, prompting the Marine Research Institute to recommend a reduction in the catch. The reduced numbers of capelin in Icelandic waters was also cited as a reason. Capelin is a major source of food for the cod.
Separately, the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas, scheduled to issue its advice on fish stocks on June 10, said in a press release yesterday that cod stocks, including the Icelandic, were being “fished too hard.”
The Marine Research Institute also recommended that the quota for haddock and pollock be increased by 15 thousand tonnes to 105 thousand tonnes and by 10 thousand tonnes to 80 thousand tonnes, respectively.
The director of the Marine Research Institute, Jóhann Sigurjónsson, said while the cod had to be managed defensively, there were many positive developments in the fishing grounds of Iceland, not least because of the increased temperatures in the surrounding waters over the past years which have provided for better conditions.
