After setting the crab quotas, Norway has set the quota for cod fishing in the North Sea and Skagerrak for 2024, increasing it slightly. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Fisheries, Norwegian vessels will be allowed to catch 3,851 tons in the North Sea and 115 tons in the Skagerrak.
"We still need to rebuild the cod stock in the North Sea and Skagerrak. The regulatory framework for this fishery is based on experiences from recent years. Therefore, we have set the maximum quotas for those who can fish directly for cod in the North Sea at the same level as at the beginning of 2023," explained Cecilie Myrseth, Norwegian Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.
"We have increased the guaranteed quotas somewhat. We will monitor the fishing developments next year and see if the regulations can be made more flexible," she added.
In the negotiations between Norway, the UK, and the EU, cod quotas were increased by 15% to 31,301 tons. However, despite this increase, compared to historical quotas, the quotas set for 2024 are still low.
In the tripartite agreement of Norway, the EU, and the UK on quotas for 2024, it was also agreed to maintain the measure of seasonal closed areas in the Norwegian economic zone, the UK zone and the EU zone to protect known cod spawning grounds.
"Even though things look brighter for cod than in several years, we still want to close these areas as one of several important measures to build up the cod stock to a higher level," Minister Myrseth said.
According to the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans of Norway, the regulatory framework from earlier this year reduces the likelihood the quota will be caught before the end of the regulatory year. Therefore, depending on the fishing rate, an assessment will be made in May/June 2024 as to whether there is scope to increase the maximum quotas/allowable bycatch.
Quotas fixed according to vessel type
For the North Sea, maximum quotas have been set for vessels using conventional gear. They will have access to participate in a closed group, and vessels under 15 meters can fish 8 tons, vessels between 15 and 21 meters can fish 16 tons, and vessels over 21 meters can fish 32 tons of cod. Regarding the open group vessels their maximum quota is a continuation of the 2023 level. They will be able to fish and land 4 tons of cod from the beginning of the year.
The regulations for 2024 also state that direct fishing outside the baseline in Skagerrak is not allowed, although the exception established for vessels that have fulfilled the conditions for exemption from the Skagerrak fishing ban and the 2015 agreement allowing vessels with a maximum length of less than 11 meters to fish directly for cod with longlines from April 1 to June 30 are maintained.
The other vessel groups are regulated with bycatch provisions that have been set for the North Sea and Skagerrak.
In the North Sea, the allowable cod by-catch for vessels using conventional gears other than seine nets is set at 15%, for those using seine nets it is set at 10%, and at 5% for those using demersal trawls, and also for vessels using shrimp trawls.
Likewise, in Skagerrak, by-catches of cod established for vessels using conventional gears other than seine nets are set at 10%, and 2.5% for those using seine nets and demersal trawls, while for shrimp trawls they are set at 5%.
Finally, for vessels with North Sea trawl permits or limited North Sea trawl permits using demersal trawls the allowable cod by-catches are set at 10% for the North Sea and 2.5% in Skagerrak. Those for vessels using small-mesh trawls, excluding shrimp trawls, are set at 1% for both areas.