The model takes into consideration the capelin consumed by cod during the period between the time of the survey when the capelin stock is measured in autumn, until spawning in late spring.
The capelin fishery was closed from 2003 to 2008, as the spawning stock was below 200 000 tons, even in the absence of a fishery. In 2009 the capelin fishery was reopened when the stock spawning biomass was calculated to be 500 000 tons.
Over the past years, there has been an increase of the capelin stock. Today this is potentially the largest capelin stock in the world. For 2010 the quota was set to 360 000 tons.
Management and technical regulations of the fishery
The Barents Sea capelin is managed according to a catch rule agreed upon by the Joint Norwegian-Russian Fishery Commission, stating that quotas shall be limited to an extent where there is a high probability (95 per cent) that at least 200 000 tons of capelin are allowed to spawn. In addition to quotas, the fishery is regulated by closed seasons, closed areas, minimum mesh size and minimum landing size. During winter, areas are opened and closed based on observations of by-catch of herring and cod.
Ecosystem
The stock size has varied significantly over the past 35 years, which is the period the stock size has been estimated. The variation is primarily caused by natural ecosystem changes and the capelin’s key role in the ecosystem as feed for other fish like north east arctic cod and young herring.
About the fishery
The Norwegian fishery is mainly a purse seine fishery, but some vessels use pelagic trawl when the stock gets close to the shore. Historically, the capelin was used mainly for fish meal and fish oil production. Only a small amount was prepared for human consumption on the Japanese market, mainly females containing roe. In recent years, a much larger proportion of the total landings have been used for human consumption. 89 per cent of the capelin has been caught with purse seine and 11 per cent with trawl in the period from 2000 to 2009.