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NORWEGIAN fishing leaders have welcomed recommendations for near tenfold increase in the blue whiting quota announced for next year.
The size of the ICES recommended North Atlantic quota has surprised many - up from 40,100 tons this year to 391,000 tons for 2012, but it is believed to be based on sound scientific evidence. Researchers say they expect the catch level to be sustainable, but advise that, even if recruitment is improved, they expect smaller spawning stocks in the years ahead. This is likely to mean sizeable variations in future quota years.
Tore Roald Suresnes, chairman of the Norwegian Fishing Vessel Owners Association, said his members were pleased with the size of the quota, adding that there was a need for more research into the fishery. He said it was difficult for the industry to cope with the yo-yo quotas for blue whiting that have been evident during the past four years.
Blue whiting is part of the wider cod family found mainly in the northern Atlantic region and serious fishing for the species only started in the 1970s. It has been widely used in the production of fish meal, but more recently it has become an important food fish, particularly in Russia and Eastern European countries. Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands are the main catchers of blue whiting.
Turning to Norwegian spring spawning herring, Mr Suresnes said a reduction in the quota had been expected judging from the earlier stock figures, but this would be more than compensated for by increased allowable catches for North Sea herring. He said the mackerel quota was again as expected despite, as he put it, "extensive pirate fishing" by Iceland and the Faroe Islands.
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