Total catch

Total catches in Icelandic waters increased from roughly 200,000 tonnes prior to the First World War, to about 700,000 tonnes between the wars. After the Second World War, the catches of demersal species stabilized around this level but total catches increased to 1.5 million tonnes because of the herring fisheries. Then the herring stocks collapsed and the total catches declined again. Production increased again in the late 1970s and has fluctuated between 1 and 2 million tonnes annually since. These fluctuations are explained by the volatile changes in the size of the capelin stock, which makes up roughly half of the total recent catch.

However, high quantity is not the same as high value. Most of the capelin is processed into meal and oil that is of relative low value. The highest value is in the cod catches and only two species, cod and haddock make up more than half the total value of catches in Icelandic waters, although they are combined only about 20% of the total catch.

In Iceland cod has always been the most important fish, accounting for more than half of total demersal catch until the early 1980s. The first Icelandic owned trawler started operating in 1905 (see more on the history of Icelandic motor boats here). At that time the total demersal catch by Icelandic vessels was 53 thousand tonnes but the foreign catches about 130 thousand tonnes after the rapid increase in numbers of foreign trawlers in Icelandic waters (see more information on foreign fleets in Icelandic waters here). By 1925, 40 Icelandic trawlers were operating, and the total demersal catch had increased almost fourfold to 202 thousand tonnes and the foreign catches were only slightly higher. Catches by the Icelandic fleet decreased during the Great Depression, but increased rapidly during and shortly after WWII, to a peak of 405,000 t in 1960. After the extension of the EEZ to 200 miles, the number of Icelandic trawlers, now mostly state of the art stern trawlers, increased rapidly to more than 100 vessels. Catches also increased; first catches of cod, then until this day followed by other species. However, with the recent decreasing TAC for cod, the relative importance of other species has been rising and in 2006 the cod was only about 36% of the total catch, down from 52% twenty years earlier and 69% forty years earlier.

The herring fisheries have also been historically very important for Iceland. They were especially prominent in the 1960s, when up to 590 thousand tonnes were caught. The herring stocks collapsed in 1967, and catches remained low for a long time. The herring stocks have, however, recovered fully now and catches in Icelandic waters have been around 100 thousand tonnes within the Icelandic EEZ since 1988. After the herring stocks collapsed, the Icelandic purse seiners turned their attention to the capelin, which had been largely ignored before.  This fishery increased rapidly to around 1 million tonnes annually.  The capelin stock size can, however, fluctuate wildly, since it is short lived and dies after first spawning.   Landings from pelagic fisheries are now usually more than half of the total annual catch in Icelandic waters.

Catches of the demersal species are fairly evenly spread over the year, but are still highest during the spring. This is when some major species, most importantly the cod concentrate for the spawning migrations. This used to be the main fishing season.  However the fisheries for the pelagic species are highly seasonal.  The pelagic fleet is mainly fishing for capelin during its spawning migrations in late winter, then it switches over to blue whiting and then Atlantic-Scandian herring In the summer and Icelandic summer spawning herring in early winter.

Hreiðar Þór Valtýsson, University of Akureyri