Whales



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MARINE STOCKS

FISH, SHELLFISH AND CRUSTACEANS

The living marine resources in Icelandic waters constitute the backbone to Iceland’s economy and seafood represented 51% of the value of exported products in 2006.

The total catch by the Icelandic fleet was 1.3 million tonnes in 2006, placing Icelanders near the 15th place among fishing nations of the world.

The fisheries may be divided into the demersal fisheries, pelagic fisheries and the shellfish fisheries. In 2006, groundfish was about 38% of landed volume and flatfish 2%. The pelagic fisheries provided 60% of the catch but the shellfish and crustacean fisheries less than 1%. In terms of value, however, the proportions are very different. The groundfish fisheries provided close to 76% of catch value, flatfish 7%, the pelagics 16% and the shellfish and crustaceans 1%. 

Atlantic cod is the most important of all the marine resources in Iceland. In 2006 it represented 39% of the total seafood export value.

The foundation for the success of the fisheries is the rich marine life in Icelandic waters which is maintained by the powerful oceanic currents meeting off the coast of Iceland. They create the condition of nutrients and temperature that are ideal for marine life and hardly paralleled elsewhere in the northern hemisphere.

Choose the following sections for more information about Iceland’s important marine resources - biology, habitats, stock assessment, catch allocations and the actual catches in recent years.

Atlantic cod Haddock Saithe (Atlantic pollock) Redfish stocks Greenland halibut

Other flatfish stocks Ocean catfish (wolffish) Herring Capelin Blue whiting

Nephrops (Norway lobster) Northern shrimp Iceland scallop Other utilized stocks

MARINE MAMMALS

Whaling was conducted in Icelandic waters for over a century and until the summer of 1989. No commercial whaling took place in 1990-2005, but in October 2006 a regulation was issued by the Ministry of Fisheries permitting whaling on a limited scale. Whales are an important part of the Icelandic marine environment and the indications are that they can be utilized in a sustainable way like other marine resources. Choose the following section for a brief summary of stock assessments and the historical perspective.

Latest update July 2007