It has been a good start to the year for Norway’s whitefish sector. While the cod quota has remained on par with last year, the first-sales value has risen.
The main catching season for northeast Arctic cod in Norway occurs from January to April, with a large number of vessels from the entire Norwegian coast participating. During this period, a large part of the stock migrates from the Barents Sea to spawning grounds off the Norwegian coast. Most of the catch is taken around the Lofoten islands in the north of the country and 10-15 percent of this is sold as skrei, Norway’s premium seasonal cod.
Norway’s quota for northeast Arctic cod this year is the same as in 2015 at 401,240 metric tons (MT), including 21,000 MT of coastal cod and 7,000 MT for scientific purposes. This is around 50,000 MT less than the previous two years and has led to higher first-sale prices.
In 2015, the first-sales value of cod was EUR 672 million (USD 766.5 million), a 10 percent increase on the previous year and equating to a first-sales price of EUR 1.26 (USD 1.44) per kg, an increase of 24 percent.
This upward price trend has continued into 2016 with the first-sales price up to EUR 1.50 (USD 1.71) per kg in January, an increase of 7 percent year-on-year and the highest level for three years. As a result, the first-sales value in January totaled EUR 52.6 million (USD 60 million), an increase of 13 percent year-on-year. At the same time, the volume sold increased by 6 percent to 35,112 MT.
Because Norway and the EU exchange fishing quotas on certain species, the EU’s cod quota has been reduced by 14 percent this year to 146,324 MT.
