| Length | age1 | age2 | age3 | age4 | Total Number | Total Biomass (tonnes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.5 | 732 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 732 | 1551 |
| 9 | 2506 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2506 | 6651 |
| 9.5 | 6544 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6544 | 21177 |
| 10 | 10263 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10263 | 38412 |
| 10.5 | 10947 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10947 | 47360 |
| 11 | 7424 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7424 | 36682 |
| 11.5 | 5555 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5555 | 32184 |
| 12 | 5990 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5990 | 39622 |
| 12.5 | 2834 | 138 | 0 | 0 | 2972 | 22260 |
| 13 | 2203 | 130 | 0 | 0 | 2334 | 19963 |
| 13.5 | 1381 | 310 | 0 | 0 | 1691 | 16254 |
| 14 | 891 | 785 | 49 | 0 | 1725 | 18679 |
| 14.5 | 457 | 1043 | 89 | 0 | 1589 | 20307 |
| 15 | 0 | 1727 | 0 | 0 | 1727 | 24940 |
| 15.5 | 49 | 1678 | 49 | 0 | 1776 | 28316 |
| 16 | 0 | 1513 | 81 | 0 | 1594 | 28871 |
| 16.5 | 0 | 2269 | 81 | 0 | 2350 | 46868 |
| 17 | 0 | 1955 | 191 | 0 | 2146 | 47007 |
| 17.5 | 0 | 1805 | 127 | 130 | 2063 | 50780 |
| 18 | 0 | 1107 | 127 | 32 | 1266 | 33371 |
| 18.5 | 0 | 640 | 64 | 64 | 768 | 22299 |
| 19 | 0 | 255 | 49 | 32 | 336 | 10505 |
| 19.5 | 0 | 127 | 64 | 99 | 290 | 8857 |
| 20 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 0 | 49 | 1809 |
Key signals
The size of the capelin stock and the catches have fluctuated between years and are reflecting the size of the incoming cohort at any given time. Since changes occurred in the stock’s nursery and feeding grounds since around 2000, both stock size and catches have generally been smaller.
The size of the fishable stock in the last two seasons was estimated small, and therefore no catches were allowed for the 2023/2024 season and very small catches in 2024/2025, with an advice of 8 589 tonnes.
The index of the abundance of juvenile capelin in the autumn survey of 2024 was 58.9 billion individuals, which according to the harvest control rule leads to an initial advice for the 2025/2026 season of 46 384 tonnes. This initial advice will be revised following the autumn survey in September 2025.
General information
The capelin is a small pelagic schooling fish. It is a cold-water species that inhabits arctic and subarctic waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. Capelin in the Iceland-East Greenland-Jan Mayen area is considered to be a single stock, and is denoted here after as the IEGJM capelin stock.
Fisheries of capelin began in Iceland in the mid-1960s. Besides being commercially important capelin is a key species in the marine ecosystem off Iceland. It feeds on small zooplankton, especially copepods but also amphipods and krill, but is itself an important food for cod, saithe, haddock, halibut and other commercial fish. It is also important prey for whales and birds. Thus, capelin is an important link in the transfer of energy and nutrients to the upper levels of the food web. Preferred temperature for capelin is usually 1-3°C during feeding migration and it is then often at the southern extent of cold Arctic water. When the adult capelin migrates from the feeding areas far north of Iceland, east and southeast of Greenland, it is mainly considered to approach the shelf break north of Iceland and then migrate clockwise around the island. Part of the main migration continues all the way towards the coast west of Iceland. Spawning takes place in shallow water in March-April in relatively warm seas south and southwest coast of the country. Spawning has also been observed in coastal areas north of Iceland but the extent of that spawning has been considered small compared to the number that spawns in the south. The majority of capelin dies after spawning, usually at the age of 3 years, although mostly females may survive spawning (Christiansen et al., 2008). The migrations of capelin contribute to a huge transfer of energy into the ecosystem of the Icelandic continental shelf. Larvae and juveniles drift clockwise along the continental shelf north and east of Iceland and in variable quantities towards Denmark Strait and to the shelf of East Greenland. Nursery grounds of capelin are in the waters north of Iceland and increasingly on the continental shelf of East Greenland (Bardarson et al., 2021) since the early 2000s.
Fisheries
No fisheries on the IEGJM capelin stock took place in the 2023/2024 fishing season. A total of 9 439 t catches were fished during the winter of 2025 (Figure 1). Total historical catch of the stock is shown in Figure 1 by season and distribution of the catches of the Icelandic fishing fleet by year can be seen on Figure 2.
Changes in fishing technology and fishing patterns
A total of 9 439 t catches were fished during the winter of 2024/2025 fishing season primarily by purse seine. Historically, most of the catches have been taken in purse seine but a variable amount has been taken with pelagic trawl through the fishing seasons, related to the size of the TAC and when it is issued. Discards have been considered negligible.
Stock assessment
Capelin acoustic assessment surveys
The IEGJM capelin stock has been assessed by acoustics annually since 1978. The surveys have been conducted in autumn (September-December) and in winter (January-February). An overview is given in the Northwestern Working Group NWWG, ICES stock annexe.
Autumn survey 2025
The Autumn survey was conducted with the aim of assessing both the immature and the maturing part of the stock (Bardarson et al., 2024). Since 2010, the autumn surveys have started in September (and partly in late August), a month earlier than in the preceding years because of difficulties in covering the stock due to drift ice and weather during later months at the more north-westerly feeding grounds of the stock since early 2000s (Vilhjálmsson, 2007).
The survey was conducted on the behalf of MFRI by the r/v Arni Fridriksson and r/v Tarajoq on behalf of GINR (Greenland Institute of Natural Resources) (Figure 3). The survey area was on and along the shelf edge off East Greenland from about 64°30´N towards about 72°15´N, also covering the Denmark Strait and the slope off northwest Iceland. The Iceland Sea and Kolbeinsey ridge were only briefly scouted due to time constraints and for same reason hydrographic measurements and zooplankton sampling were limited due to bad weather conditions. There were also considerable delays due to stormy weather.
In general, drift ice only limited the coverage of the survey vessels in a few regions although icebergs and a lack of information on bottom topography occasionally affected routes and limited the extent of transects towards the Greenlandic coast (Figure 3).
Maturing capelin was mainly observed outside the Icelandic continental shelf North and Northwest of Iceland (Figure 4). In the western Denmark Strait maturing capelin was mixed with immature capelin, while mainly maturing capelin was found further west. In contrast to last year, the distribution of mature capelin reached only a relatively short distance east of Denmark Strait and that is again a drastic change from observations in autumn 2022, when mature capelin was found on or along the East Greenland continental shelf south, east and north of Scoresby Sound. Further, no capelin was found near the western part of the Jan Mayen ridge or at the Kolbeinsey ridge. In general, there were no signs of significant quantities of capelin east of Kolbeinsey ridge nor along Icelandic shelf edges. Juveniles (0-group) of various species, including capelin (although not quantified) were observed along the continental shelf north and northwest of Iceland and along the southwestern coverage of the Greenlandic shelf. Immature capelin was found along the Greenlandic shelf, dominating in southwestern part of the survey area and Denmark Strait (Figure 4).
The total biomass estimate was 624 722 tonnes. Table 1 gives information on the age-disaggregated numbers and biomass of the capelin stock components.
Historical trend of mean weight of immature 1 to 3 year old capelin during the autumn survey is shown in Figure 5, as well as the trend of the mean weight of the mature capelin 1 to 4 year old capelin in Figure 6. The mean weight of 1 and 2 year old immature capelin has increased over time for all age classes, especially since 2000. Older age groups consistently show higher mean weights, with 3 year old immature capelin (Figure 5) and 4 year old capelin (Figure 6) exhibiting the most variability in mean weight.
