Statistics Iceland on Tuesday reported that Iceland’s fishing vessels harvested 1.063 million metric tons of seafood last year, a 5.9 percent decrease from the previous year.
However, the value of Iceland’s 2010 seafood catch amounted to ISK 133 billion, a 15.2 percent increase from 2009, according to the new Statistics Iceland report.
Iceland’s groundfish catch totaled 462,821 metric tons in 2010, down 7 percent from 2009. Cod landings reached 188,977 metric tons, down 5.5 percent. But the value of the cod catch increased 20.8 percent to ISK 44.6 billion last year. Cod is Iceland’s most valuable seafood species.
As for other groundfish species, the haddock catch dropped 20.6 percent to 64,948 metric tons from 2009 to 2010, while the saithe catch slipped 12.1 percent to 53,894 metric tons.
Iceland’s flatfish catch, consisting mainly of Greenland halibut and plaice, totaled 24,198 metric tons in 2010, down 15.1 percent from 2009.
The country’s pelagic fish catch reached 595,653 metric tons in 2010, down 5.3 percent from 2009. That’s largely because the herring catch fell 34.9 percent to 66,579 metric tons and the Atlantic-Scandian herring catch fell 17.9 percent to 187,894 metric tons, while the Atlantic mackerel haul increased 5.1 percent to 122,031 metric tons. However, the value of the pelagic fish catch jumped 28.4 percent to ISK 27.6 billion last year.
Meanwhile, Iceland’s shellfish catch totaled 10,627 metric tons in 2010, up 29.1 percent from 2009.
