North-East Arctic haddock is distributed in the Sea and along the Norwegian coast. The main spawning grounds are located along the Norwegian coast and between 70°30’ and 73° N along the continental slope. Depending on age and season, the main diet of haddock is benthos, krill and small fish like capelin and young herring.
Haddock is harvested throughout the year
In years when abundance is low, it is caught as by-catch in the trawl fishery for cod. There is a directed trawl fishery for haddock and a directed and by-catch fishery with conventional gears, mostly long line. The historical annual catch levels since 1950 have varied from 17 thousand tonnes to 300 thousand tonnes, with an average of 120 thousand tonnes. In recent years, Norway and Russia have accounted for more than 90 % of the landings. The reported catch in 2004 was 116 thousand tonnes.
Restricted by national quotas
The fishery for haddock is restricted by quotas, by a minimum catching size, a minimum mesh size in trawls and Danish seine, a maximum by-catch of undersized fish, closure of areas with high density/catches of immature fish and other seasonal and area restrictions. Since January 1997, sorting grids have been mandatory for the trawl fisheries in most of the Barents Sea and Svalbard area. Discarding is prohibited, but may be a problem. The minimum catching size of haddock is 39 cm in the Russian economic zone and 44 cm in the Norwegian economic zone; both minimum catching sizes are used by respective fleets in the Svalbard area in accordance with the Svalbard Treaty from 1920.
Agreement on a catch rule
The observed recruitment of North-East Arctic haddock is good, and the stock is expected to remain at a high level in the next years. In early 2005, the stock was estimated at 370 thousand tonnes and the spawning stock at 140 thousand tonnes. The estimate of the spawning stock is above the precautionary reference level, but the stock is at risk of being harvested unsustainably.
The Joint Norwegian-Russian Fisheries Commission has agreed on a catch rule for setting annual total allowable catch of haddock. ICES will evaluate the rule in spring 2006 to decide whether it is in accordance with the precautionary approach. The last two years, the Commission has set the quota consistent with the agreed catch rule. The total quota for 2006 is set to 120 thousand tonnes.