Scientists suggest 100,000 tons cut in Barents Sea cod for 2017
The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has advised Norway and Russia to cut the Barents Sea cod quota to 805,000 tons for 2017.
In 2015 ICES advised that the catches should be brought down from 894,000 to 805,000, but the Joint Norwegian-Russian Fisheries Commission decided not to follow the advise, and kept the previous quotas, Undercurrent News reports.
After a record-high quota on cod in the Barents Sea of 1 million tons in 2013, there has been a small decline in cod stocks due to a slightly lower recruitment. ICES expects the spawning stock size to stabilize over the next couple of years, Norway’s Institute for Marine Research writes.
For haddock, another important fish stock in the Barents Sea, the scientists advise that the quotas for 2017 should be taken down from 244,000 tons to 233,000 tons.
