GREATER SILVER SMELT Argentina silus
Publication of Advice: 12th June 2026. Published by Marine and Freshwater Research Institute.
Advice
MFRI and ICES advise that when the MSY approach is applied, catches in the 2026/2027 fishing year in the Icelandic and East Greenland area should be no more than 7 636 tonnes.
Stock development
Fishing pressure on the stock is below FMSY and Fpa, and spawning-stock size is above MSY Btrigger, Bpa, and Blim.
Greater silver smelt. Catch by area, recruitment (age 5), fishing mortality (ages 6–14), and spawning stock biomass. Shaded area and error bars represent 95% CI.
Basis of the assessment and reference points
Basis of the advice | MSY approach |
Management plan | There is no management plan for this stock |
Assessment type | Statistical catch at age model (SAM) |
Input data | Age and length data from commercial catches and surveys (IS-SMB and IS-SMH). |
Approach | Reference point | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
MSY approach | MSY Btrigger | 49 481 | Based on Bpa |
FMSY | 0.093 | Leads to long-term MSY, based on stochastic simulations (EqSim). | |
Precautionary approach | Blim | 40 531 | Lowest SSB (2013) post 2009 |
Bpa | 49 481 | Blim x e1.645 * 0.2 | |
Fpa | 0.093 | Fp05, maximum F at which the probability of SSB falling below Blim is <5% |
Prospects
Greater silver smelt. Assumptions made for the interim year and in the forecast.
Variable | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Fages6-14 (2026) | 0.09 | Assuming the full uptake of the TAC for the 2025/2026 fishing year and FMSY for the remainder of 2026 (1. September - 31 December 2026). |
SSB (2027) | 74 615 | Short-term forecast; in tonnes |
Recruitment age 5 (2027) | 39 250 | Estimated by the model; in thousands |
Recruitment age 5 (2028) | 37 476 | Averaged from the past 10 years of the assessment; in thousands |
Catch (2026) | 7 294 | Results from Fages–6-14 (2026); in tonnes. |
Greater silver smelt. Projection of reference biomass and SSB (tonnes) based on the MSY approach.
Basis | Catch (2026/2027) | Fishing mortality ages 6-14 (2026/2027) | SSB (2028) | % SSB change1) | Advice change2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Management plan | 7 636 | 0.093 | 74 067 | -1 | -2 |
1) SSB in 2028 relative to SSB in 2027 | |||||
2) Advice value for 2026/2027 relative to advice value for 2025/2026 (7771 t) | |||||
Quality of the assessment
This year’s assessment is consistent with last year’s assessment.
The survey index fluctuates greatly. This is likely caused by shoaling behaviour and vertical migrations, and it contributes to the uncertainty in the assessment (ICES, 2025).
The Icelandic autumn survey (IS–SMH) covers the depth range and geographical distribution of the stock, and the Icelandic spring groundfish survey (IS-SMB) can be used as an indicator of recruitment. For Subarea 14, the Greenlandic deep sea survey has shown that the distribution of the species extends along the shelf edge south to 62°N.
Greater silver smelt. Current assessment (red line) compared with previous estimates 2022–2025. The assessment framework and reference points were revised in 2025; therefore, only the last two lines in each plot should be compared to reference points.
Advice, TAC and catch
Greater silver smelt. Recommended TAC, national TAC, catches Iceland, catches Greenlan, catches other nations and total catches. All TAC and catch values are in tonnes.
Fishing year | Recommended TAC | National TAC1) | Catches Iceland | Catches Greenland2) | Catches other nations | Catches total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010/2011 | 8 000 | 8 000 | 12 091 | 0 | 0 | 12 091 |
2011/2012 | 6 000 | 6 000 | 8 410 | 0 | 0 | 8 410 |
2012/2013 | 8 000 | 8 000 | 11 039 | 0 | 0 | 11 039 |
2013/2014 | 8 000 | 8 000 | 7 243 | 0 | 0 | 7 243 |
2014/2015 | 8 000 | 8 000 | 6 849 | 0 | 0 | 6 849 |
2015/2016 | 8 000 | 8 000 | 6 019 | 0 | 0 | 6 019 |
2016/2017 | 7 885 | 7 885 | 3 570 | 0 | 0 | 3 570 |
2017/2018 | 9 310 | 9 310 | 5 159 | 0 | 0 | 5 159 |
2018/2019 | 7 603 | 7 603 | 2 807 | 0 | 0 | 2 807 |
2019/2020 | 9 124 | 9 124 | 3 773 | 0 | 2 | 3 775 |
2020/2021 | 8 729 | 8 729 | 4 277 | 0 | 5 | 4 282 |
2021/2022 | 8 717 | 8 717 | 6 550 | 0 | 0 | 6 550 |
2021/2022 | 9 244 | 9 244 | 6 550 | 0 | 0 | 6 550 |
2022/2023 | 11 520 | 11 520 | 5 430 | 0 | 0 | 5 430 |
2023/2024 | 10 9203) | 12 080 | 7 378 | 0 | 6 | 7 384 |
2024/2025 | 12 273 | 12 273 | 11 031 | 0 | 2 | 11 039 |
2025/2026 | 7 771 | 7 771 | ||||
2026/2027 | 7 636 | |||||
1) Icelandic TAC | ||||||
2) Calendar year catches in East Greenland | ||||||
3) Corrected advice in 2024 | ||||||
References and further reading
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
MFRI Assessment Reports 2026. Greater silver smelt. Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, 12 June 2026.