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REDFISH/ OCEAN PERCH Sebastes marinus and Sebastes mentella

There are three separate species of redfish found around Iceland, i.e. Sebastes marinus, S. mentella and S. viviparus. The smallest of these, S. viviparus, is not caught in significant amounts and is as yet of little commercial importance.

The common name for the S. marinus stock is golden redfish and the two stock components of S. mentella are deep-sea redfish and oceanic redfish that vary in their habitat.

Golden redfish and deep-sea redfish are caught all year round. Fishing is often best in late winter and the richest fishing grounds are in the west and southwest at ocean temperature of 3 - 8 °C. Golden redfish is mostly caught at depths of 100 - 300 m but is also found down to 500 m. Deep-sea redfish is more common at depths of over 500 m. Oceanic redfish is mainly caught in the summer months at depths of 200 - 500 m in the Irminger Sea, within the EEZ of Iceland and Greenland and in international waters. Common weight in landings of these redfish species is 0.5 to 1.5 kg and body length about 32-40 cm.

The mature fish feed on krill and small fish such as capelin and herring and swim over wide areas for feeding. Redfish mate in early winter, the female carries the sperm and eggs and later larvae that are hatched in April/May in remote areas in the southwest. The fry stays near the bottom off East Greenland and at the edge of the Icelandic continental shelf. Redfish grows slowly and age determination is difficult.

Redfish is caught by bottom trawl in waters of the Icelandic continental shelf and slope but by pelagic trawl in the Irminger sea.

Golden redfish and deep-sea redfish catches in Icelandic waters have been recorded separately in recent years. The combined catch has varied from 35,000 tonnes to 125,000 tonnes per year in the last 30 years, with an average of close to 80,000 tonnes.

Landings of golden redfish by Icelandic vessels were 41,000 tonnes in the calendar year 2006 and 17,000 tonnes for deep-sea redfish. The Marine Research Institute recommends that fishing should be limited to 35,000 tonnes of golden redfish and 22,000 tonnes of deep-sea redfish in the 2007/2008 fishing year. The TACs for these two stocks has been set at 57,000 tonnes total.

A great deal of caution is needed in the harvesting of redfish stocks since recruitment to the fishable stock is slow for these species. There are no proven scientific methods for assessment of stock size and research is hampered by stock dispersion over a large area and uncertainty in age determination. It is clear, however, that the redfish stocks have been under intensive fishing pressure in recent times and that the stocks will recover only gradually.  

The diagram shows the development of the combined catch of golden redfish and deep-sea redfish since 2001, together with the recommendations of the MRI and the set TAC.

Oceanic redfish
Catch of oceanic redfish by Icelandic ships started in 1989. The stock is harvested by several nations in the North Atlantic. Most of them are party to an international agreement on total allowable catch and share of individual countries. The total catch has varied from 27,000 tonnes to 180,000 tonnes since 1990. The Icelandic catch has in this period varied from 14,000 tonnes to 63,000 tonnes inclusive of a figure of 10% for estimated discards of blemished and infected fish. In 2006 the Icelandic catch was close to 24,000 tonnes, the second lowest since 1992. The Iceland quota in 2007 is close to 21,000 tonnes.

There is increasing scientific evidence for concluding that the catch of oceanic redfish near the Reykjanes ridge and in the Irminger Sea is in fact not limited to this stock component and that deep-sea redfish has increasingly been caught in this fishery as the use of large pelagic trawls has increased and ships have to a large extent fished at depths of over 600 m. In recent years, most of the Icelandic catch has been fished below that depth. The question then arises whether the deep-sea redfish stock component may belong to the deep-sea redfish stock in Icelandic waters which is already fished intensively and subject to careful monitoring. Research on the genetic make-up of these components is presently being carried out and is likely to answer these basic questions.

There are indications that CPUE in the international oceanic redfish fishery has decreased markedly in recent years. This may be due to a decrease in stock size but also changes in environmental conditions of the area. In the light of this development and limited recent information on stock size, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), has advised caution in the fishing of this stock and recommends that no fishing takes place in 2007. The North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) has agreed on a  TAC of 46,000 tonnes in 2007.

Use the following link for an update on management of the redfish fisheries (January 2008)

Statement on responsible management of redfish fisheries in Iceland

Steuerung der Rotbarschfischerei in Island