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BLUE WHITING Micromesistius poutassou

Blue whiting is among the ten most fished species in the world. The stock is very large and primarily fished in the northeast Atlantic but it is found very widely, including the Barents Sea, North Sea, off the British Isles, in the Bay of Biscay and as far south as Morocco. It is also found in the Mediterranean Sea, and off the coast of Greenland and North America.

Mature blue whiting is found in the open sea, most often near the surface or in mid water, but can also be found down to depths of 1000 meters. It feeds primarily on krill, small crustaceans and fish fry. Blue whiting can reach 50 cm length but is more commonly 25-40 cm.

Blue whiting spawns in the spring, mostly at depths of 300-500 meters west and northwest off the British Isles, but also in Faroese waters, Norwegian fjords and off the southwest coast of Iceland. Upon spawning the fish migrates north for feeding and is found in great quantities between Iceland and Norway and further north in the Barents Sea. Towards the autumn it starts migrating back south. Based on acoustic biomass measurement, the spawning stock of blue whiting was estimated at close to 11 million tonnes in April 2007.

Blue whiting is found all around Iceland, but in largest concentrations off the southeast, south and southwest coast. Icelandic vessels fish chiefly within the Icelandic EEZ and in Faroese waters. Landings are seasonal. The season starts in March with the best fishing in May – July. Fishing is mostly by pelagic trawl.

Large-scale fishing of blue whiting was resumed in Iceland in 1998 after almost two decades of very little fishing effort. In the past few years, fishing has increased very significantly, and in 2003 Icelandic vessels fished over 500,000 tonnes. Landings by Icelandic vessels in 2006 were 310,000 tonnes, while the total allowable catch for Iceland was 352,000 tonnes and total landings from the stock were close to 2 million tonnes.

Blue whiting is fished by Norway, Faroe Islands, Iceland and the EU. Towards the end of 2005, these parties agreed on the allocation of  fishing quotas and the total allowable catch not exceeding 2.0 million tonnes in 2006. The agreement also involves a systematic lowering of the TAC in years to come. Based on precautionary principles, ICES has advised that no more than one million tonnes should be fished in 2007. The Northeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) agreed on a total TAC of 1,847,000 tonnes from the stock in 2007. Further to this the Icelandic TAC for 2007 has been set at close to 300,000 tonnes.

The diagram shows the development of the annual blue whiting catch by Icelandic vessels since 2001, together with the TAC set by the Ministry of Fisheries since 2002. Scientific recommendations are made by ICES for the stock as a whole, which is fished by many countries.

A new whitefish species on the market Herring, capelin and blue whiting are the most valuable pelagic resources in Iceland. Blue whiting, however, belongs to the cod family and is low in lipids and light in colour unlike the flesh of herring and capelin. Blue whiting is well suited to processing but the raw material has a short storage life. Blue whiting is therefore processed whole on-board large freezer vessels.