The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has advised about new quota advice for Norwegian coastal cod and saithe, Norway's Institute of Marine Research has informed.
Thereby, Marine Researchers' quota advice for Northeast Arctic saithe for 2023 is 226,794 tonnes – an increase of 15% from last year's quota council At the same time, the northernmost stock of coastal cod also enjoys an increase in the quota council.
Regarding this, Arved Staby, stock manager for Northeast Arctic said: "This is good news. It shows that the saithe population is in good condition. We have carried out thorough and good calculations that show that it is justifiable to increase the quota."
The quota council for coastal cod 62–67 °N in 2023 is 9136 tonnes, an increase of 20% from 2022. The statement confirms this increase because the stock size index has increased in recent years.
On the other side, stock manager Brian Stock highlighted that the stock is data-poor. Also, the index seems to have a high degree of uncertainty. "It is important that a new reconstruction plan is introduced. This should focus on regulations in areas and periods where catches of coastal cod are particularly high," he added.
Besides, ICES issued a revised quota council for the current year for the northernmost coastal cod stock, which upgrades the council from 7,865 tonnes to 12,146 tonnes.
According to researcher Johanna Fall, this change is due to errors in the software used to calculate the cruise index. "The error resulted in too low an acoustics index for 2020, and thus too low a quota advice," Fall noted.
Finally, the zero advice will also be continued in 2023 for ordinary redfish and last year's quota council for blue halibut also applies to 2023.
Because Russian marine scientists have been suspended from ICES, advice for Northeast Arctic cod, haddock, and proboscis will come later this year. A separate process is underway for a bilateral agreement for these stocks.