Cod and haddock quotas for the Barents Sea should be reduced by 13 percent and 25 percent respectively for 2019, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has recommended.
ICES has advised that when the Joint Russian-Norwegian Fisheries Commission (JNRFC) management plan is applied, cod (Gadhus morhua) catches in 2019 should be no more than 674,678 metric tons (MT), down from this year’s agreed total allowable catch (TAC) of 775,000 MT.
The bycatch of coastal cod and golden redfish (Sebastes norvegicus) should also be kept as low as possible, it said.
According to ICES analysis, the cod spawning-stock biomass (SSB) reached a peak in 2013 when the agreed TAC was set at 1 million MT, but is now on a downward trend.
At the same time, the council advised that 2019’s haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) catch should not exceed 152,000 MT, which would represent a reduction of more than 50,000 MT compared with this year’s TAC.
The advised haddock catch for 2019 is considerably lower than that advised for this year because the abundance of older age groups is now estimated to be lower, and also the strong 2004-2006 year classes no longer contribute much to the fishery, said ICES.
