Positive results from the co-ordinated Nordic Mackerel Survey

The marine research institutes of the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland and Norway have issued a report on the annual co-ordinated mackerel trawl survey in the Nordic Seas which was conducted in July and August as in previous years.

The total estimate of mackerel biomass is around 9 million tonnes which is similar, while slightly more than in 2013. The distribution, however, is somewhat different as the north- and westward migration is markedly greater than has been measured before. Thus, the amount estimated in Iceland‘s EEZ is similar as in previous years and the amount in Greenland‘s EEZ and northernmost international waters is greatly increased, while considerably reduced in Faroese and Norwegian waters.

„It is good news that the mackerel stock is still so strong and the survey also confirms once again the great abundance of mackerel in Icelandic waters as well as a significant increase in Greenlandic waters. It is obvious that this development, which becomes better established year by year has to be recognised and taken duely into account in future negotiations“, said Fisheries Minister Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson.