The autumn capelin survey has started

Capelin.
Photo: Svanhildur Egilsdóttir.

The 2025 capelin autumn survey will be conducted from 23 August to 22 September. This is a joint survey conducted by the MFRI (Marine and Freshwater Research Institute) in Iceland and the GINR (Greenland Institute of Natural Resources).

The research vessel Tarajoq, on behalf of the GINR started their part this weekend southwest of Iceland (Figure 1). The research vessel Árni Friðriksson will then join the survey on September 6. The RV Tarajoq’s survey is scheduled to take 21 days, while the RV Árni Friðriksson is expected to be at sea for 17 days. In total, the vessels are planned to sail 7,850 nautical miles.

The track and location of the research vessels can be seen here.

The purpose of the survey

The survey aims to estimate the abundance of both the immature and mature parts of the capelin stock in the Iceland-East Greenland-Jan Mayen area (IEGJM). A similar survey has been conducted since 1978.

Since 2018, the survey has been adapted to an ecosystem survey; allowing researchers to collect and gain further information on capelin biology and the surrounding pelagic ecosystem. It involves sampling and measurements of phytoplankton, mesozooplankton, macrozooplankton, pelagic fish species and the physical environment in the area.

MFRI has this year increased the contribution to ecological studies with the participation of four whale observers, two on each vessel. The resulting whale counts along the tracks can be followed here.

It is expected that the results of the capelin measurements will be available around mid-October. MFRI will then release revised fishing advice for the upcoming fishing year (2025/2026).

Figure 1. The planned survey transects of r/v Tarajoq (red line) and r/v Árni Friðriksson (blue line) in the capelin survey in the autumn 2025. Sampling stations with different sampling gears for the ecosystem research are shown as dots.