Cod, saithe, haddock and other demersal fish with a total value of NOK 1 billion (USD 122.2 million, EUR 107.6 million) were exported by Norway last month, which is the same total that was achieved in May 2016.
However, the country’s groundfish exports in the first five months of the year totaled NOK 6.5 billion (USD 794.3 million, EUR 699.6 million), an increase of 16 percent or NOK 88 million (USD 10.8 million, EUR 9.5 million) year-on-year.
In May, exports of fresh cod (including fillets) totaled NOK 136 million (USD 16.6 million, EUR 14.6 million), a decrease of 8 percent or NOK 11 million (USD 1.3 million, EUR 1.2 million) compared with May 2015. Frozen cod exports (including fillets), though, totaled NOK 181 million (USD 22.1 million, EUR 19.5 million), an increase of 27 percent or NOK 38 million (USD 4.6 million, EUR 4.1 million).
The joint Norwegian-Russian Fisheries Commission set the Barents Sea cod quota for 2016 at 894,000 metric tons (MT), in accordance with advice given by the International Council for Exploration of the Seas (ICES). This total allowable catch (TAC) is the same as last year.
Within this fishery, Norway’s share is 401,240 MT – again the same as last year. The main catching season for the Scandinavian country occurs January through April, with the largest volumes harvested around the Lofoten islands in the north of the country.
Meanwhile, the Barents Sea haddock quota for 2016 has been set 21,000 MT higher at 244,000 MT. Of this year’s haddock TAC, Norway’s share is 118,700 MT.
