The cod quota for the Barents Sea should be cut by 10 percent next year and the haddock catch reduced by around 5 percent, according to the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES).
In its latest advice for the region, ICES has recommended that when the Joint Russian-Norwegian Fisheries Commission management plan is applied, the cod catch should be no more than 805,000 metric tons (MT), down from 894,000 MT this year, while the haddock landings should not exceed 233,000 MT, down from 244,000 MT this year.
While both stocks are healthy, ICES said the cod biomass reached a peak in 2013 and has now dropped slightly, while the haddock biomass reached its maximum level in 2015.
Meanwhile, ICES had advised that Iceland’s cod catches in the fishing year 2016-2017 could increase slightly to 244,000 MT thanks to an increase in the spawning stock biomass (SSB), but that the haddock catch should be reduced by five percent to 34,600 MT due to a decline in its SSB.
