Whiting

Scientific: Merlangius merlangus. English: Whiting. Icelandic: Lýsa. For more languages see the Marine Animal Dictionary.

Biology and distribution

The whiting is a small to medium sized codfish, usually around 30 to 40 cm long, but the largest individual caught in Icelandic waters measured at 79 cm. It is found all around Iceland, but is much rarer in the colder waters to the north and east of the country. Mostly it occurs on mud or sand bottoms in shallow waters less than 30 m deep. It is found in European waters from Northern Norway in the north to the Portugal in the south. A subspecies lives in the northern part of the Mediterranean Sea. It is not found in Greenlandic or North American waters.

The whiting has very sharp teeth and accordingly it mostly feeds on other smaller fishes. Spawning takes place along the south and southwest coasts, in late spring or early summer which is later than most other large codfishes. Growth is rather fast and it can reach sexual maturity at the age of two. It can live for up to 10 years, the females growing faster and reaching a greater age.

Catch and fishing methods

The whiting is an important commercial species in the European waters, but is only a rather low-value bycatch in Icelandic waters. When foreign fleets conducted fisheries around Iceland, whiting catches were considerably higher than they are today and mostly caught by Belgian boats. Most of the current catches are by bottom trawl along the south shore.

Stock status

No assessment is available for this species

Processing and markets

The majority of the Iceland catch is either iced at sea and then processed and frozen in Icelandic factories or, in equal amounts, exported fresh in containers.

References and further information

References: (Pálsson, 2001), (Jónsson & Pálsson, 2006).

For full citation and further information on the main species in general see this page

Hreiðar Þór Valtýsson, University of Akureyri