Capelin found over a large area

Capelin/MFRI

The Marine and Freshwater Research Institute's capelin survey that has been ongoing this week is now well underway. Only a limited area off the Westfjords remains to be surveyed, which the research vessels Árni Friðriksson and Þórunn Þórðardóttir are currently conducting. The fishing vessels Heimaey, Polar Ammassak and Barði finished their part in the east on Saturday (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. The tracks of the vessels participating in the capelin measurements during 19-25 January 2026 (live location here: skip.hafro.is).

Although the survey is not yet complete, the MFRI would like to briefly report on the results regarding the condition and distribution of capelin. In the coming days, the institute's scientists will review all data, assess the size of the fishing stock, uncertainty in the survey and the predation rate, as well as determine advice for the current season. This advice will be based on both this measurement (weight 2/3) and measurements of the size of the fishing stock in the autumn of 2025 (1/3). The release of the advice can be expected in the second half of this week.

The capelin were distributed over a large part of the area covered (Figure 2). The highest density was in the front of the migration east of the land and out of Húnaflói in the north. By far the largest part of the capelin to the north and east of the land were sexually mature and will therefore spawn in the coming weeks. The ovary proportion of the female capelin was between 6-8% in most places.

Figure 2. Survey tracks of the five vessels participating in a capelin measurements shown in different colors from 19-25 January 2026 and capelin density according to acoustic measurements (lines perpendicular to the survey tracks).