Year | Number of trawlers | Number of hauls | Reported catch (tonnes) | No. hauls which GSS > 50% of catch | Proportion of catch in hauls where GSS > 50% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | 26 | 874 | 2282 | 355 | 0.822 |
1998 | 40 | 2683 | 11389 | 1991 | 0.947 |
1999 | 25 | 1509 | 4564 | 810 | 0.849 |
2000 | 23 | 1301 | 3550 | 608 | 0.797 |
2001 | 26 | 794 | 1606 | 245 | 0.692 |
2002 | 32 | 1160 | 3158 | 468 | 0.744 |
2003 | 30 | 1176 | 2005 | 213 | 0.473 |
2004 | 27 | 1052 | 2733 | 292 | 0.653 |
2005 | 30 | 1388 | 3558 | 335 | 0.707 |
2006 | 31 | 1554 | 3736 | 355 | 0.690 |
2007 | 27 | 1275 | 3470 | 416 | 0.718 |
2008 | 31 | 3261 | 8569 | 848 | 0.648 |
2009 | 34 | 3555 | 10425 | 1010 | 0.680 |
2010 | 36 | 4847 | 16500 | 1821 | 0.727 |
2011 | 34 | 3309 | 10237 | 961 | 0.715 |
2012 | 31 | 3395 | 9776 | 988 | 0.710 |
2013 | 31 | 2743 | 7247 | 609 | 0.642 |
2014 | 24 | 2363 | 6195 | 487 | 0.608 |
2015 | 24 | 2195 | 5835 | 356 | 0.574 |
2016 | 26 | 2096 | 5719 | 385 | 0.593 |
2017 | 21 | 1363 | 3894 | 236 | 0.584 |
2018 | 20 | 1440 | 3893 | 215 | 0.479 |
2019 | 28 | 1169 | 2570 | 143 | 0.506 |
2020 | 25 | 1170 | 2968 | 174 | 0.475 |
2021 | 27 | 1166 | 3439 | 189 | 0.663 |
2022 | 31 | 1697 | 6230 | 468 | 0.726 |
2023 | 25 | 1992 | 5321 | 348 | 0.652 |
2024 | 29 | 1966 | 8333 | 591 | 0.858 |
Key signals
Survey biomass has been increasing since 2013 and reached the highest levels in the timeseries in 2023.
Recruitment was higher 10 years ago, which explains the increase in survey biomass, but is around average this year.
Length distributions are very consistent from one year to another as measured in the autumn survey, with a mean length of ~39 cm.
Spawning stock biomass has been increasing since 2013 and is at an all time high, but has been above \(B_{lim}\) since 2014.
Fishing mortality (F) is below \(F_{MSY}\) and has been since 2017.
General information
Greater silver smelt is a rather small silvery bathypelagic species that can form large schools close to the seafloor mainly at depths >500 m. In Icelandic waters it can live to around 26 years old. Juveniles tend to aggregate in shallower depths. Greater silver smelt mainly feed on zooplankton (e.g., euphausiids, amphipods, and copepods) or small nekton (e.g., squids, jellyfish, or fish).
The Fishery
Landings trends
Landings of greater silver smelt are presented in Table 1 and Figure 1. Since directed fishery started in 1997–1998, the landings increased from 800 t in 1996 to 15 200 t in 1998. Between 1999 and 2007 catches varied between 2700 to 6700 t. Since 2008 landings have increased substantially, from 4200 t in 2007 to almost 16 400 t in 2010. In 2011 landings started to decrease due to increased management actions. Since 2019, landings have increased and amounted to 9032 in 2024. Landings were reported in Greenlandic waters in 2017 and 2018; however, these exploratory directed fisheries appear to have ceased in 2019 but should be monitored for reappearance.
Greater silver smelt is mostly fished along the south and southwest coast of Iceland, at depths between 500 and 800 m, as targeted fishing is only allowed at depths greater than 400 m (Figure 2). Greater silver smelt has been caught in bottom trawls for years as a bycatch in the redfish fishery. Only small amounts were reported prior to 1997 as most of the greater silver smelt was discarded.
Fleets
Since 1996 between 20 and 40 trawlers have annually reported catches of greater silver smelt in Icelandic waters (Table 1). The trawlers participating in the greater silver smelt fishery also target Icelandic slope beaked redfish (Sebastes mentella) and to lesser extent Greenland halibut and blue ling. Number of hauls peaked in 2010, but have decreased since then in line with lower total catches. In the most recent years number of hauls have increased. In most years over 50% of the greater silver smelt catches are taken in hauls where the species is more than 50% of the catch (Table 1).
Targeting and mixed fisheries issues in the fishery in Icelandic waters
Mixed fisheries issues: species composition in the fishery
Redfish spp. (golden redfish (Sebastes norvegicus) and deepwater redfish (S. mentella)) are the main bycatch species in the mixed fishery encompassing greater silver smelt. Other species of lesser importance are Greenland halibut, blue ling and ling. Other species than these rarely exceed 10% of the bycatch in the greater silver smelt fishery in Icelandic waters (Table 2).
Year | Golden redfish | Deepwater redfish | Greenland halibut | Ling | Blue ling | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | 1.4 | 79.3 | 0.0 | 6.8 | 7 | 5.4 |
1998 | 5.2 | 77.5 | 0.0 | 3.5 | 7 | 6.7 |
1999 | 4.1 | 79.8 | 0.0 | 2.7 | 6 | 7.6 |
2000 | 4.9 | 70.9 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 10 | 13.7 |
2001 | 22.7 | 55.0 | 4.5 | 0.5 | 1 | 16.1 |
2002 | 17.3 | 73.9 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 4 | 3.1 |
2003 | 38.4 | 51.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 5 | 4.8 |
2004 | 24.9 | 68.7 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1 | 4.8 |
2005 | 15.4 | 69.9 | 4.2 | 1.4 | 3 | 6.1 |
2006 | 28.8 | 59.8 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 1 | 8.1 |
2007 | 11.9 | 71.2 | 5.9 | 0.3 | 6 | 4.6 |
2008 | 26.7 | 60.8 | 2.8 | 1.2 | 5 | 3.3 |
2009 | 20.1 | 64.6 | 3.2 | 0.2 | 8 | 4.0 |
2010 | 16.0 | 63.7 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 6 | 11.1 |
2011 | 13.2 | 66.4 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 5 | 13.0 |
2012 | 8.8 | 67.3 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 8 | 14.8 |
2013 | 9.5 | 63.9 | 4.6 | 0.1 | 9 | 12.6 |
2014 | 2.5 | 78.3 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 5 | 10.7 |
2015 | 12.6 | 64.1 | 4.7 | 0.2 | 4 | 14.5 |
2016 | 10.9 | 73.5 | 5.4 | 0.2 | 3 | 7.1 |
2017 | 2.9 | 85.6 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 3 | 6.8 |
2018 | 4.7 | 87.7 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 2 | 4.0 |
2019 | 7.8 | 81.2 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 2 | 7.0 |
2020 | 5.6 | 87.5 | 1.7 | 0.1 | 1 | 4.2 |
2021 | 11.6 | 72.3 | 5.8 | 0.3 | 1 | 8.7 |
2022 | 5.7 | 84.0 | 4.0 | 0.2 | 3 | 2.9 |
2023 | 10.6 | 58.9 | 21.4 | 0.3 | 2 | 6.8 |
2024 | 9.8 | 64.4 | 5.0 | 0.6 | 4 | 16.3 |
Spatial distribution of catches through time
Most of the catches since 1997 have been taken at the southern edge of the Icelandic shelf (Figure 3). In the period, a gradual relative increase is seen in the western area and a gradual decrease in the southeastern area (Figure 3).
Spatial distribution of catches in Icelandic waters has not changed markedly in recent years (Figure 3 and Figure 4) but fishing for greater silver smelt in the NW area seems to have reduced (Figure 3).
Year | Section 5.a | Section 14.b | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
1988 | 241 | 0 | 241 |
1989 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
1990 | 113 | 0 | 113 |
1991 | 246 | 0 | 246 |
1992 | 657 | 0 | 657 |
1993 | 1526 | 0 | 1526 |
1994 | 756 | 0 | 756 |
1995 | 586 | 0 | 586 |
1996 | 881 | 0 | 881 |
1997 | 3935 | 0 | 3935 |
1998 | 15242 | 0 | 15242 |
1999 | 6681 | 0 | 6681 |
2000 | 5657 | 0 | 5657 |
2001 | 3043 | 0 | 3043 |
2002 | 4960 | 0 | 4960 |
2003 | 2680 | 0 | 2680 |
2004 | 3645 | 0 | 3645 |
2005 | 4482 | 0 | 4482 |
2006 | 4769 | 0 | 4769 |
2007 | 4227 | 0 | 4227 |
2008 | 8778 | 0 | 8778 |
2009 | 10828 | 0 | 10828 |
2010 | 16428 | 0 | 16428 |
2011 | 10516 | 0 | 10516 |
2012 | 9289 | 0 | 9289 |
2013 | 7155 | 0 | 7155 |
2014 | 6344 | 4 | 6348 |
2015 | 6058 | 23 | 6081 |
2016 | 5646 | 16 | 5662 |
2017 | 4344 | 666 | 5010 |
2018 | 4035 | 425 | 4460 |
2019 | 3209 | 2 | 3211 |
2020 | 3775 | 27 | 3802 |
2021 | 4140 | 15 | 4155 |
2022 | 6886 | 28 | 6914 |
2023 | 5268 | 0 | 5268 |
2024 | 9032 | 0 | 9032 |
Data available
In general, sampling from commercial catches is considered representative of the stock, as one of the requirements of owning a fishing license for greater silver smelt is the retention of scientific samples (Table 4). Samples were only obtained from bottom trawls. The sampling does seem to cover the spatial and temporal distribution of catches. In recent years there was a decline in sampling which has been improved since 2023. The sampling coverage in 2025 is shown in Figure 5.
Landings and discards
Landings by Icelandic vessels are given by the Icelandic Directorate of Fisheries. Discarding is banned in Icelandic waters, and currently there is no available information on greater silver smelt discards. It is however likely that unknown quantities of greater silver smelt were discarded prior to 1996.
Length compositions
Table 4 gives the number of samples and measurements available for calculations of catch in numbers of greater silver smelt in Icelandic waters. Mean length of greater silver smelt in catches has been rather stable from 2005 in the range of 37 – 43 cm (Figure 6). However, there was a slight increase in mean length in 2012 and again in 2018 (Figure 6).
Age compositions
Table 4 gives the number of samples and measurements available for calculations of catch in numbers of greater silver smelt in Icelandic waters. Mean ages from catches have been variable from 2000 in the range 6 – 14 years, with relatively high mean ages when catches are low (Figure 7, Figure 8, Figure 9). The reason for these changes is not known as there is no marked difference in the spatial distribution of the fishery; however, reduced fishing pressure may be a factor.
Year | No. length samples | No. length measurements | No. otolith samples | No. aged otoliths |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | 48 | 4992 | 1447 | 1059 |
1998 | 148 | 15559 | 6964 | 889 |
1999 | 58 | 4163 | 2180 | 82 |
2000 | 27 | 2968 | 1011 | 113 |
2001 | 10 | 489 | 245 | 17 |
2002 | 21 | 2270 | 360 | 127 |
2003 | 63 | 5095 | 425 | 0 |
2004 | 34 | 997 | 225 | 84 |
2005 | 49 | 3708 | 772 | 0 |
2006 | 29 | 4186 | 616 | 525 |
2007 | 14 | 2158 | 285 | 272 |
2008 | 44 | 3726 | 1768 | 1387 |
2009 | 53 | 5702 | 1746 | 1574 |
2010 | 134 | 16353 | 3370 | 3120 |
2011 | 63 | 6866 | 1953 | 1774 |
2012 | 43 | 4440 | 1492 | 603 |
2013 | 47 | 4977 | 710 | 704 |
2014 | 39 | 4709 | 350 | 340 |
2015 | 11 | 1275 | 221 | 217 |
2016 | 45 | 5879 | 285 | 283 |
2017 | 29 | 3466 | 430 | 416 |
2018 | 12 | 1437 | 185 | 181 |
2019 | 10 | 1250 | 40 | 40 |
2020 | 12 | 1905 | 130 | 130 |
2021 | 14 | 1301 | 215 | 214 |
2022 | 8 | 603 | 165 | 165 |
2023 | 28 | 2789 | 479 | 476 |
2024 | 23 | 1964 | 455 | 448 |
Weight at age in catches
Mean weight at age in the catch is shown in Figure 9. Catch weights of most year classes have been decreasing in recent years with an exception for some of the older age classes in 2019 (Figure 9). Weight at age was higher for the younger age classes in 2005-2015.
Catch per unit of effort and effort data from commercial fisheries
At WKDEEP 2010 a glm cpue series was presented (WKDEEP 2010, GSS-05), however because of strong residual patterns the group concluded that the glm-cpue series was not suitable to use as an indicator of stock trends. The cpue is not considered to represent changes in stock abundance as the fishery is mostly controlled by market factors, oil prices and quota status in other species, mainly redfish. CPUE may however, give an idea of the behavior of the fishery (Figure 10).
Survey data
The Icelandic autumn groundfish survey was commenced in 1996 and expanded in 2000. A detailed description of the autumn groundfish survey is given in the stock annex (ICES, 2025) for greater silver smelt in Icelandic waters. The survey is considered representative of stock biomass of greater silver smelt since it was expanded in 2000. Figure 11 gives the most recent catch quantities and locations of surveys. The observed trends in the biomass indices from the autumn survey have a considerably different trend than those observed in the spring survey (Figure 12). According to the autumn survey, biomass increased more or less year on year from 2000 to 2008 but then decreased in 2009 and 2010. The total biomass index in the autumn survey showed slight variations until 2014 when the index increased to the highest value observed at the time. In 2023, the index reached the highest value in the timeseries (Figure 12).
The Icelandic spring groundfish survey, which has been conducted annually in March since 1985, gives trends on fishable biomass of many exploited stocks on the Icelandic fishing grounds. In total, about 550 stations are taken annually at depths down to 500 m. The survey area does not cover the most important distribution area of the greater silver smelt fishery in Icelandic waters but does give an indication of recruitment and is, as of the WKBDEEP meeting in 2025 (ICES 2025) included in the assessment. The juvenile index has a very high peak in 1986 but then hardly any juveniles are detected in the survey in 1987 to 1995. Since 1998 there have been several small spikes in the recruitment index (Figure 12).
Most of the greater silver smelt caught in the survey is taken in few but relatively large hauls. This can result in very high indices with large variances particularly if the tow-station in question happens to be in a large stratum with relatively few tow-stations. For example, autumn survey indices in 1999 and 2014 are especially high in comparison with survey indices from adjacent years (Figure 12).
No substantial changes are seen in spatial distribution of the autumn survey. For the spring survey, a large proportional increase is observed in the Southeast (Figure 13).
Length distributions from the autumn survey are rather stable, with 2025 being close to the long-term average. For the spring survey however, smaller sizes can be observed at times of high recruitment (Figure 14).
Survey indices disaggregated by age show an increase in most age classes in recent years for the autumn survey (Figure 15). As expected, the spring survey is limited mostly to the younger age classes but the largest indices are found in 2005 for 5 year olds and 5-10 years in recent years (Figure 15).
Stock weight at age
Mean weight at age in the survey is shown in Figure 16. Stock weights are obtained from the autumn groundfish survey in October and are also used as mean weigtht at age in the spawning stock.
Stock maturity
Estimates of maturity ogives of greater silver smelt in 5.a were presented at the ICES 2020 meeting for both age and length (ICES 2020) using data collected in the Icelandic autumn survey (See stock annex for details). Males, on average, mature at a slightly older age or at 6.5 compared to 5.6 for females but at a similar length as females 35.3 cm (Figure 18).
Analytical assessment using SAM
In 2025, Greater silver smelt in 5.a and 14 was reassessed as age data had been improved and the SAM model framework is more stable and easier to use than the previously benchmarked Gadget model. As a part of a Harvest Control Evaluation the stock was benchmarked (WKBDEEP, ICES 2025) which resulted in changes in the assessment method and updated reference points. Model setup and settings are described in the Stock Annex (ICES, 2025).
Diagnostics
Model fit
Figure 19 shows the overall fit to the survey indices. In general, the model appears to follow the stock trends historically. Furthermore, the terminal estimate is not seen to deviate substantially from the observed value for most length groups, with model overestimating the abundance in the two largest length group. Summed up over survey biomass the model overestimates the biomass in the terminal years. The overview of model parameter estimates are shown in Figure 24.
Results
Population dynamics of the ling estimated in this model show a clear trend of a high recruitment period from 2004-2010, corresponding with increased spawning stock biomass (SSB) and catches during the 2010-2019 period. Fishing mortality remained rather steady until 2015 but has declined since then (Figure 20).
Retrospective analysis
Analytical retrospective analysis is presented (Figure 21). The analysis indicates that there were downward revisions of biomass from the first and second years of the 5-year peel, followed by an upward revision of biomass (SSB) over the last three years. As a result, there was slight upward then downward revision of fishing mortality (F). Estimates of recruitment are decently stable, though less so in the most recent years.
Mohn’s ρ was estimated to be -0.1079309 for SSB, 0.0740609 for F, and -0.1415376 for recruitment. Neither observation nor process residuals show obvious trends (Figure 22 and Figure 23).
Reference points
As part of the WKBDEEP 2025 HCR evaluations (ICES 2025), the following reference points were defined.
| Framework | Reference_point | Value | Technical_basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSY Approach | MSY Btrigger | 49481 | Bpa |
| FMSY | 0.093 | F that produces MSY in the long term | |
| Precautionary Approach | Blim | 40531 | Bloss (SSB in 2013) |
| Bpa | 49481 | Blim x e1.645 * 0.12 | |
| Flim | 0.145 | Fishing mortality that in stochastic equilibrium will result in median SSB at Blim. | |
| Fpa | Maximum F at which the probability of SSB falling below Blim is <5% |
Management
The Ministry of Industries is responsible for management of the Icelandic fisheries and implementation of legislation. The ministry issues regulations for commercial fishing for each fishing year (1 September–31 August), including an allocation of the TAC for each stock sub-ject to such limitations. Before the 2013/2014 fishing year the Icelandic fishery was managed as an exploratory fishery subject to licensing since 1997. A detailed description of regulations on the fishery of greater silver smelt in Icelandic waters is given in the stock annex (ICES 2025). Fishing for greater silver smelt is banned at depths less than 400 m to avoid catching younger fish.
The TAC for the 2013/2014 fishing year was set at 8000 t based on the recommendations of MFRI using a preliminary Gadget model and the 2014/2015 fishing year the recommendation was to maintain the catches at 8000 t. For the fishing year 2015/2016 it was also maintained at 8000 t, but varied between 7600 and 12273 since then, 2024/2025 being the highest (Table 6).
Figure 19 illustrates the difference between national TAC and landed catch in Icelandic waters. Flexibility is built into the Icelandic fisheries management system in which quota is transformed for use for constraining species when it is available. As this stock is consistently caught at levels lower than the TAC in recent years, it has been a source of quota that may be used to fish other species.
Advice period | Advice | TAC | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
2010/2011 | 8000 | 8000 | 12091 |
2011/2012 | 6000 | 6000 | 8410 |
2012/2013 | 8000 | 8000 | 11039 |
2013/2014 | 8000 | 8000 | 7243 |
2014/2015 | 8000 | 8000 | 6849 |
2015/2016 | 8000 | 8000 | 6019 |
2016/2017 | 7885 | 7885 | 3570 |
2017/2018 | 9310 | 9310 | 5159 |
2018/2019 | 7603 | 7603 | 2807 |
2019/2020 | 9124 | 9124 | 3775 |
2020/2021 | 8729 | 8729 | 4282 |
2021/2022 | 8717 | 8717 | 6550 |
2021/2022 | 9244 | 9244 | 6550 |
2022/2023 | 11520 | 11520 | 5430 |
2023/2024 | 10920 | 12080 | 7384 |
2024/2025 | 12273 | 12273 |
Current advisory framework
Reference points defined for the stock are shown in Table 5.
Short-term forecast
Short term projections are performed mostly using the standard procedure in SAM using the forecast function. Three-year averages are used for stock weights and maturity, but for catch weight, full uptake of the TAC is assumed in the current fishing year. These changes are made because the current fishing pressure is higher than that of the previous year’s resulting in an underestimate when using the standard procedure. From this projection the advice is derived. The advice is based on the Icelandic fishing year starting in September each year. This causes a mismatch between the assessment model, which is based on the calendar year. So in order to provide advice for the fishing year, the standard projection procedure in SAM will need to be adapted to accommodate these differences. So given the assessment in year \(y\) the interim year catches are based on the following fishing mortality: \[F_{y} = \left(\frac{8}{12}F_{sq} + \frac{4}{12} F_{MSY}\right)\] and therefore the total catches for year \(y\) will be: \[ C_{y} = \frac{F_{y}}{F_{y} + M} \left(1 - e^{-(F_{y} + M)}\right)B_{y}\]
and the part of the catch in the fishing year y-1/y will be \[\frac{\frac{8}{12}F_{sq}}{\left(\frac{8}{12}F_{sq} + \frac{4}{12} F_{MSY}\right)} C_y\]
and the catch in fishing year y/y+1 will be: \[C_{y/y+1} = \frac{\frac{4}{12}F_{MSY}}{\left(\frac{8}{12}F_{sq} + \frac{4}{12} F_{MSY}\right)} C_y + \frac{8}{12}C_{y+1}\] where \[C_{y+1} = \frac{F_{MSY}}{F_{MSY} + M} \left(1 - e^{-(F_{MSY} + M)}\right)B_{y}\] The results from the short term prognosis are shown in Table 7.
| Year | F(6-14) | Recruitment | SSB | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.131 | 35180 | 77051 | 11040 |
| 2026 | 0.093 | 36971 | 74005 | 7737 |
| 2027 | 0.093 | 39408 | 73520 | 7467 |
Management considerations
Exploitation of greater silver smelt in Icelandic waters has gradually declined since its peak in 2010, falling to levels below than the average exploitation rate in the reference period.
Ecosystem considerations for management
Short-term declines in biomass due to high fishing pressure have occurred in the history of greater silver smelt fishing in Iceland. However, a longer-term decline in biomass was ob-served from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, although catch data from this period are unreliable, making it difficult to directly attribute the decline to fishing. Since the mid-1990s, bio-mass has generally increased. This recovery is likely due to a combination of reduced fishing pressure and favorable environmental conditions, which have supported strong recruitment over the past decade.
REFERENCES
ICES. 2010. Report of the Benchmark Workshop on Deep‐water Species (WKDEEP), 17–24 February 2010, Copenhagen, Denmark. ICESCM2010/ACOM: 38. 247pp. http://www.ices.dk/sites/pub/Publication%20Reports/Expert%20Group%20Report/acom/2010/WKDEEP/wkdeep_final_2010.pdf
ICES. 2014. “Report of the Working Group on the Biology and Assessment of Deep-Sea Fisheries Resources (WGDEEP). ICES Scientific Reports. 1:21., Copenhagen, Denmark. ICES Cm 2014/Acom:17.” International Council for the Exploration of the Seas; ICES publishing. https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.5262.
ICES. 2020. “Stock Annex: Greater silver smelt (Argentina silus) in Subarea 14 and Division 5.a (East Greenland and Iceland grounds).” International Council for the Exploration of the Seas; ICES publishing. https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.20037254
ICES. 2021. Benchmark Workshop of Greater silver smelt (WKGSS; Outputs from 2020 meeting). ICES Scientific Reports, 3:5. 485 pp. https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.5986.
ICES. 2025. Benchmark Workshop on Selected Deep-Sea Fisheries Stocks (WKBDEEP). ICES Scientific Reports. 7:24. 148 pp. https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.28882295