Iceland ups cod quota

Jon Bjarnason, Iceland’s fisheries and agriculture minister, on Friday announced the country’s quotas for the 2010-11 fishing year, which begins on 1 September.

The 2010-11 cod quota is set at 160,000 metric tons, up 10,000 metric tons from 2009-10 but 20,000 metric tons shy of what fishermen had requested.

While the country’s cod quota will increase, its other groundfish quotas will decrease. The 2010-11 haddock quota is set at 50,000 metric tons, down 13,000 metric tons from 2009-10.

The 2010-11 redfish quota was cut by 1,000 metric tons, and, for the first time, will be split into two separate quotas — golden redfish and deep-sea rosefish.

While the 2010-11 saithe quota will remain unchanged, the Greenland halibut quota is up 1,000 metric tons.