GREATER SILVER SMELT

Argentina silus


Technical report
Published by

Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, Iceland

Published

12 June 2026

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).

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 9109 in 2025. 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.

Figure 1: Greater silver smelt. Nominal landings from Icelandic waters.

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.

Figure 2: Greater silver smelt. Depth distribution of catches from Icelandic logbooks. All gears combined.

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).

Table 1: Greater silver smelt in Icelandic waters. Information on the fleet reporting catches of greater silver smelt.
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 2 282 355 0.822
1998 40 2 683 11 389 1 991 0.947
1999 25 1 509 4 564 810 0.849
2000 23 1 301 3 550 608 0.797
2001 26 794 1 606 245 0.692
2002 32 1 160 3 158 468 0.744
2003 30 1 176 2 005 213 0.473
2004 27 1 052 2 733 292 0.653
2005 30 1 388 3 558 335 0.707
2006 31 1 554 3 736 355 0.690
2007 27 1 275 3 470 416 0.718
2008 31 3 261 8 569 848 0.648
2009 34 3 555 10 425 1 010 0.680
2010 36 4 847 16 500 1 821 0.727
2011 34 3 309 10 237 961 0.715
2012 31 3 395 9 776 988 0.710
2013 31 2 743 7 247 609 0.642
2014 24 2 363 6 195 487 0.608
2015 24 2 195 5 835 356 0.574
2016 26 2 096 5 719 385 0.593
2017 21 1 363 3 894 236 0.584
2018 20 1 440 3 893 215 0.479
2019 28 1 169 2 570 143 0.506
2020 25 1 170 2 968 174 0.475
2021 27 1 166 3 439 189 0.663
2022 31 1 697 6 230 468 0.726
2023 25 1 992 5 321 348 0.652
2024 29 1 966 8 333 591 0.858
2025 25 1 615 8 385 522 0.872

Targeting and mixed fisheries issues in the fishery in Icelandic waters

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).

Table 2: Greater silver smelt in Icelandic waters. Proportional (%) bycatch species composition where greater silver smelt was more than 50% of the total catch in a haul.
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
2025 3.6 76.3 2.0 0.2 2 15.4

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).

Figure 3: Greater silver smelt. Catch distribution and proportions by area according to logbooks.
Figure 4: Greater silver smelt. Spatial distribution of catches as reported in logbooks.
Table 3: Greater silver smelt. Landings (tonnes) records from the Icelandic directorate of Fisheries and Greenland.
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 1 526 0 1 526
1994 756 0 756
1995 586 0 586
1996 881 0 881
1997 3 935 0 3 935
1998 15 242 0 15 242
1999 6 681 0 6 681
2000 5 657 0 5 657
2001 3 043 0 3 043
2002 4 960 0 4 960
2003 2 680 0 2 680
2004 3 645 0 3 645
2005 4 482 0 4 482
2006 4 769 0 4 769
2007 4 227 0 4 227
2008 8 778 0 8 778
2009 10 828 0 10 828
2010 16 428 0 16 428
2011 10 516 0 10 516
2012 9 289 0 9 289
2013 7 155 0 7 155
2014 6 344 4 6 348
2015 6 058 23 6 081
2016 5 646 17 5 663
2017 4 344 667 5 011
2018 4 035 425 4 460
2019 3 209 5 3 214
2020 3 775 35 3 810
2021 4 140 15 4 155
2022 6 886 1 6 887
2023 5 268 0 5 268
2024 9 044 10 9 054
2025 9 109 0 9 109

Data and sampling

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.

Figure 5: Greater silver smelt. Fishing grounds as reported in logbooks and positions of samples taken from landings (asterisks).

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).

Figure 6: Greater silver smelt. Relative length distributions from Icelandic commercial bottom trawl catches.

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.

Table 4: Greater silver smelt. Summary of sampling intensity and overview of available data.
Year No. length samples No. length measurements No. otolith samples No. aged otoliths
1997 48 4 992 1 447 1 059
1998 148 15 559 6 964 889
1999 58 4 163 2 180 82
2000 27 2 968 1 011 113
2001 10 489 245 17
2002 21 2 270 360 127
2003 63 5 095 425 0
2004 34 997 225 84
2005 49 3 708 772 0
2006 29 4 186 616 525
2007 14 2 158 285 272
2008 44 3 726 1 768 1 387
2009 53 5 702 1 746 1 574
2010 134 16 353 3 370 3 120
2011 63 6 866 1 953 1 774
2012 43 4 440 1 492 603
2013 47 4 977 710 704
2014 39 4 709 350 340
2015 11 1 275 221 217
2016 45 5 879 285 283
2017 29 3 466 430 416
2018 12 1 437 185 181
2019 10 1 250 40 40
2020 12 1 905 130 130
2021 14 1 301 215 214
2022 8 603 165 165
2023 28 2 789 479 476
2024 29 2 609 575 568
2025 27 3 286 350 330