ICELANDIC FISHING GROUNDS

Iceland's exclusive fisheries zone has an area of 760,000 square kilometers, seven times the area of Iceland itself. Some of the largest fish stocks in the North Atlantic are found in Icelandic waters, including the cod stock, which is Iceland's most important stock, and the capelin stock, which is generally the largest in size. Other large stocks migrate in and out of Icelandic waters, including the Atlanto-Scandian herring stock and blue whiting, while still others are mostly close to the 200-mile limit, such as the oceanic redfish stock.  

The following map shows Iceland's 200-mile fishing zone as a black line and ocean depth in varying shades of blue colour. The darker colours indicate greater depths. Nearest to land in pale blue the depth is less than 200 meters. The next shade of light blue extending along the Reykjanes ridge southwest from Iceland indicates depths of 200-1,000 meters. The continental shelf extends in many areas  to 400 meters depth but beyond that depth increases steeply. The mid-blue colour shown for most of the 200-mile zone indicates depths of 1,000-2,000 meters while the darker blue mostly south off Iceland indicates depths of 2,000-3,000 meters.

Map: Courtesy of The Icelandic Coast Guard Looking at Iceland's northerly position on the map, one would expect the ocean around it to be icy cold and that very little production of  phytoplankton could take place and become the basis for the food chain. One would expect the ocean to be rather lifeless. The fact is, however, quite the contrary because the ocean around Iceland is teeming with life. The explanation lies in the system of ocean currents around the country. As the warm Gulf stream approaching from the southwest meets the polar current from the north a huge amount of upwelling of nutrients takes place from the deeper layers to the surface. The nutrients feed microscopic life in the surface layers, notably phytoplankton and zooplankton and thus the ocean's entire food web. The Gulf stream warms the ocean south off Iceland and flows north along the west coast and east along the north coast. It meets the polar current off the north and west coasts and also in the southeast.   The following diagrams show the fishing grounds for a few important species in 2005. The maps were obtained by courtesy of the Marine Research Institute. They are published in the institute's annual report headed: State of Marine Stocks in Icelandic Waters. Access to the latest report and its abstract in English is via the following:  State of Marine Stocks 2006/2007 Fishing grounds for cod The following shows the fishing grounds for cod in 2005. The colour-coded scale on the right shows the catch in tonnes per square mile. The cod grounds are all around the country and some of them are legendary such as Halamid in the northwest that have traditionally been very rich grounds. Nearest to land the gear is handline, Danish seine, gillnets and longline, while bottom trawling by regulation is further offshore.   Fishing grounds for haddock The following shows the fishing grounds for haddock in 2005. The colour code shows the catch in tonnes per square mile. The haddock grounds are all around Iceland, but least in the northeast. The map shows some very rich grounds just off the southwest and west coast but also in the southeast. Fishing grounds for golden redfish The following shows the fishing grounds for golden redfish in 2005. The colour code shows the catch in tonnes per square mile. The redfish grounds are in the south and west close to the edge of the continental shelf.  Fishing grounds for Greenland halibut The following map shows the fishing grounds for Greenland halibut in 2005. The colour code shows the catch in tonnes per square mile. The fishing grounds are scattered along the edge of the continental shelf with the richest area deep off the West Fjords. Greenland halibut is primarily fished by bottom trawl.  Fishing grounds for plaice The following shows the fishing grounds for plaice in 2005. The colour code shows the catch in tonnes per square mile. Plaice is fished all along the coast in shallow waters, but the best grounds are in the west, slightly more offshore. Plaice is fished by Danish seine closest to shore but by bottom trawl further out. Fishing grounds for Norway lobster The following map shows the fishing grounds for Norway lobster (nephrops) in 2005. The colour code shows the catch in tonnes per square mile. Nephrops grounds are only off the south coast, and chiefly close to the Westman Islands and west of Hornafjordur.   Fishing grounds for herring The following shows the grounds for the Icelandic summer spawning herring in 2005. The colour code shows the catch in tonnes per square mile. Herring grounds are off the east and south coasts and in some years there is also good fishing in the west.  Fishing grounds for blue whiting The following shows the fishing grounds for blue whiting  in 2005. The colour code shows the catch in tonnes per square mile. Blue whiting is primarily fished in the waters between Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

Latest update July 2007