North Sea haddock quota increases, but prices to remain high

The steady recovery of key whitefish stocks in the North Sea — the result of a number of industry-led sustainability initiatives — has provided a welcome shot in the arm for the European haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) market.

Following the annual EU/Norway fish negotiations, the total allowable catches (TACs) for both North Sea cod (Gadus morhua) and haddock have been increased for 2015 by 5 percent and 6 percent, respectively. The new cod TAC has been set at 29,189 metric tons (MT), which gives the EU a quota of 24,227 MT; while the new haddock TAC has been set at 40,711 MT, handing the EU a quota of 33,948 MT.

The whitefish sector has seen haddock supplies from both Norway and Iceland slide in recent years and prices subsequently soar. For 2015, the joint Norwegian-Russian Fisheries Commission has set the Barents Sea haddock TAC at 178,500 MT, which is the same as this year, but going back only as far as 2012 the TAC was significantly greater at 318,000 MT. At the same time, Iceland has reduced its 2015 haddock TAC to 30,400 MT, down from 38,000 MT this year. 

Because of the downward supply trend, processors and suppliers — who will again struggle to find affordable supplies of the fish in 2015 — are welcoming the opportunity to source additional North Sea haddock. However, traders reckon that as the new North Sea haddock TAC represents a fairly modest increase, prices will almost certainly remain very high and that cod will be an increasingly attractive substitute for buyers.

The additional North Sea cod, meanwhile, is expected to have little effect on the market as Europe will be well supplied next year thanks to the Norwegian-Russian TAC of 894,000 MT and Iceland’s 218,000 MT.

In general, European cod prices have been very low for the past two or three years as a result of record supplies and it’s widely believed that the price trend will continue throughout 2015.

The EU/Norway talks also resulted in next year’s TAC for North Sea plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) being raised 15 percent to 128,376 MT, of which the EU has quota of 119,690 MT. There were, however, 15 percent reductions in the TACs for both saithe (down to 66,006 MT) and whiting (down to 13,678 MT), while the shared herring TAC has been lowered 5 percent to 445,329 MT.

As well as deciding 2015 TACs, the talks agreed on a repeat of the inward transfers of haddock and whiting quota from Norway, giving EU fleets access to more catching opportunities.

Meanwhile, the EU discard ban for whitefish comes into force from 2016 and there are mounting concerns in the whitefish sector about how practical it will be in complex mixed fisheries, particularly the North Sea, and the subsequent implications that it will have for supply chains.

Scotland’s Fishing Secretary, Richard Lochhead, plans to raise these and other apprehensions at the December Council of EU Fishing Ministers. He has also invited new EU Fisheries Commissioner, Karmenu Vella, to Scotland to see the challenges on implementing the landing obligation with his own eyes.