Fisheries overview
Key Signals
Fisheries management measures for major stocks (e.g. cod, haddock, saithe, and herring) have resulted in decreased fishing pressure – close to or at FMSY or HRMSY – and increased SSBs for the past two decades.
There has been an overall reduction in fishing effort since 1991 for all fisheries – except those using handlines where it has increased. The decrease in trawl effort is likely to have reduced pressure on benthic habitats.
Three pelagic fisheries have seen increased effort and landings due to changes in migration patterns which have been linked to prey availability, oceanographic conditions, and stock abundance: a blue whiting fishery, which started in the late 1990s, the fishery of Atlantic mackerel which commenced in mid-2000, and the Norwegian spring-spawning herring fishery which recommenced at the turn of the century.
Fishing grounds of several other species (e.g. haddock, anglerfish, ling, lemon sole and witch) have extended to the northern part of the ecoregion due to species redistribution as a result of increased water temperature.
Several species, including Atlantic halibut, spotted wolfish, Norway lobster, and northern shrimp, have shown substantial decreases in stock sizes associated with reasons such as high fishing pressure and reduced stock productivity. The directed fisheries for Atlantic halibut and Norway lobster are currently prohibited.
Legislation to recommence hunting of fin and minke whales was passed in 2009. However, catches are not made every year.
The highest cumulative multiannual bycatch rate of protected, endangered, and threatened species was recorded in set gillnets. At species level, the highest seabird bycatch rates were observed for guillemot and common eider, and the highest marine mammal bycatch rates for harbour porpoise and harbour seal. The estimated annual bycatch of seabirds in the gillnet lumpfish fishery has decreased in recent years but the driver is not clear.
The summer feeding grounds of capelin have moved out from the Icelandic Waters ecoregion to the Greenland Sea ecoregion. While this does not directly affect the Icelandic capelin fishery which occurs in the winter it may indirectly impact the distribution and growth of predator stocks on which other fisheries depend.
Introduction
The Icelandic Waters ecoregion covers the shelf and the waters surrounding Iceland and is equivalent to the Icelandic Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ; Figure 1). The region is located at the junction of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Greenland-Scotland Ridge, just south of the Arctic Circle. The ocean and coastal shelves are heavily influenced by oceanic inputs where water masses of different origins mix. Further details can be found in the ecosystem overview for Icelandic waters.
The fisheries within the ecoregion catch more than 40 stocks of fish and marine invertebrates. The main demersal species include cod (cod.27.5a), haddock (had.27.5a), saithe (pok.27.5a), golden redfish (reg.27.561214), Greenland halibut (ghl.27.561214), Atlantic wolffish (caa.27.5a), plaice (ple.27.5a), tusk (usk.27.5a14), and ling (lin.27.5a). The main pelagic species are capelin (cap.27.2a514) and summer-spawning herring (her.27.5a), as well as widely distributed species such as Norwegian spring-spawning (NSS) herring (her.27.1-24a514a), blue whiting (whb.27.1-91214), and mackerel (mac.27.nea). Norway lobster, northern shrimp, and sea cucumber are the main invertebrate stocks that are exploited in Icelandic waters.
The fisheries for most stocks in this ecoregion are managed by the Icelandic Government, while fisheries of some shared stocks are subject to international negotiation through the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) or by coastal state agreements (between Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Norway).
All of the Icelandic Waters ecoregion lies within FAO Major Fishing Area 27; the prefix “27” in the ICES statistical area codes is therefore omitted in the following text. This overview covers ICES Division 5.a and parts of divisions 2.a, 5.b, 12.a, 14.a, and 14.b, and provides:
- a short description of each of the national commercial fishing fleets in the ecoregion, including their fishing gears, and spatial and temporal patterns of activity;
- a summary of the status of the fisheries resources and the level of exploitation relative to agreed objectives and reference points;
- a description of mixed fisheries interactions in the ecosystem, and
- an evaluation of the effects of fishing gear on the ecosystem in terms of the seabed and on the bycatch of protected, endangered, and threatened species.
The scientific names of all species are included in Table 3 in the Annex.
Description of the fisheries
Fisheries within the Icelandic Waters ecoregion use a variety of fishing gears to catch a wide range of species, including those considered to be demersal, benthic, pelagic, widely distributed, and deep water. The bulk of the fisheries, both pelagic and demersal, occur at depths less than 500 m. There has been an overall reduction in fishing effort since 1991 (Figure 2) for all fisheries except those using handlines, where it has increased. The spatial distribution of the average fishing effort 2020–2023 by gear type is depicted in Figure 3.
Bottom-trawl
Bottom trawls account for the majority of the fishing effort in the Icelandic Waters ecoregion (Figure 2)). The species composition of the catch depends on the area and depth fished as well as the gear design, including the cod-end mesh size. Bottom trawl effort is highest on the continental shelf edge, particularly west and northwest of Iceland (Figure 3), targeting cod, saithe, and golden redfish (Figure 5) and using a mesh size 135 mm in the cod-end. Otter trawling is banned within 12 nautical miles, although there are some exceptions, like the inshore northern shrimp fishery. Since 1991, the bottom trawl effort has decreased substantially (Figure 4). There is also a substantial bottom trawl fishery for haddock on the continental shelf around Iceland; however, it is in shallower waters than the fishery targeting cod (Figure 5). In deeper waters (500–1000 m) on the shelf edge, the main target species are Greenland halibut (in the north and east), demersal beaked redfish (mainly southwest and west; reb.27.5a14), and greater silver smelt (south and southwest; aru.27.5a14) (Figure 5).
Trawlers using smaller mesh bottom trawls (70–100 mm) primarily target Norway lobster in areas south and southwest of Iceland (Figure 3). Effort of this fleet has decreased substantially since 1991 and there has been no fishing since 2022 (Figure 4).
The shrimp fishery, which uses specialized shrimp trawl with mesh size ~40 mm in the cod-end, is mainly conducted north of Iceland (Figure 3). Shrimp trawl effort declined rapidly from 1998 to 2005 and has since remained low (Figure 4). The reason for this is the collapse of five out of eight inshore shrimp stocks as well as the substantial decrease in effort towards deep water northern shrimp, which is the largest stock.
Demersal seine
Demersal seine fisheries operate mainly on soft bottoms close to land to west and south of Iceland (Figure 3); they target various flatfish species such as plaice and lemon sole but also cod, haddock, and Atlantic wolffish (Figure 5). Demersal seine effort has decreased by more than half during the period 1991–2023 (Figure 4).
Static gear (gillnet, longline, and handline)
Gillnet fisheries operate mainly in shallow waters (Figure 3) and are directed at cod during its migration to the main spawning grounds south and west of Iceland in the first and second quarter. There is also a gillnet fishery that targets lumpfish conducted in very shallow areas in fjords north and west of Iceland. Gillnet fisheries conducted in deeper areas target Greenland halibut and anglerfish (Figure 3). The total gillnet effort has declined more than fivefold by 2023 compared to its peak in 2004, primarily due to a significant reduction in gillnet fisheries targeting cod and saithe (Figure 4). In the most recent years, gillnet effort targeting Greenland halibut has increased considerably on the continental slope in the northern and eastern part of the ecoregion.
Longline and handline effort increased from 2000 to 2010 and, although it has decreased since then, remains high (Figure 4). These fisheries mainly operate in shallow waters, targeting cod and haddock (Figure 5). Longline fisheries in deeper waters target cod, tusk, ling, and blue ling (bli.27.5a14).
Pelagic trawl and seine
The Icelandic fleet targeting the pelagic fish stocks in the ecoregion (two stocks of herring as well as capelin, mackerel, and blue whiting) consists of large vessels that can operate with both pelagic trawls and purse-seines. Since 2005, the majority of the pelagic fish stocks have been taken with large pelagic trawls, whereas the purse-seine fishery has declined to very low levels (Figure 4). Since 2011, the effort with pelagic trawls has decreased by more than 80%, mainly because of decreased catches of capelin but also because of the decreased mackerel and blue whiting fishery in the Icelandic Waters ecoregion in recent years (Figure 4). In 2007–2023, between 7 and 24% of the total Norwegian spring spawning herring catch, between 4 and 18% of the total mackerel catch, and between < 1 and 7% of the total blue whiting catch was taken in the ecoregion.
Catches of the pelagic fishery vary both spatially and temporally (Figure 6). Capelin is mainly caught from January to March during its spawning migration along the southern and western coasts of Iceland. In some years, capelin has also been caught northeast of Iceland (Figure 6). The fishery for the Icelandic summer-spawning herring takes place on overwintering areas, mainly west and south of Iceland in autumn and winter (quarters three and four). The Norwegian spring-spawning herring stock fishery occurs at the feeding grounds east of Iceland from August to November. Mackerel is caught during its summer feeding migration (post-spawning) in the western, eastern, and southern parts of the ecoregion. The majority of the blue whiting catches taken in the ecoregion are taken southeast of Iceland, but the fishing season varies between years.
Part of the pelagic fishery for deep pelagic beaked redfish (reb.2127.dp) extended into the Icelandic EEZ, where only Icelandic vessels can operate, until 2019 (Figure 3). The proportion of deep pelagic beaked redfish that is caught within the Icelandic EEZ varies from year to year but, in 2009–2018, was on average 11% of the total catch. Iceland has not fished from this stock since 2019.
Dredges
Dredge fisheries operate in shallow waters, both inshore and offshore, along the western and eastern coasts of Iceland. The most significant dredge fishery is the one that started in 2008 on sea cucumber. Other species caught in dredge fisheries are sea urchin, Iceland scallop, and ocean quahog; effort towards these species, however, has been low in recent years.
Whaling
Icelandic minke whaling targets the whales at their feeding grounds, located to the west of Iceland. Since 2009, fin whaling has predominantly taken place off the continental shelf west of Iceland but, in 2014 and 2015, moved further south and east. For both fin and minke whaling, 90 mm and 50 mm harpoon cannons are used, respectively.
Recreational
In Icelandic waters, marine recreational fisheries can be divided into the marine angling tourism sector and local marine recreational fisheries (subsistence fishery). These fisheries are exempt from ITQ fisheries management. Fishing licenses are required in the angling tourist sector. The target species is mainly cod, but haddock is also caught, especially in the local marine recreational fishery. Catch statistics are, however, unavailable.