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SAITHE / ATLANTIC POLLOCK Pollachius virens

Saithe is mostly caught off the south and west coast of Iceland. Saithe is both demersal and pelagic by nature, mainly found at depths of 0 - 200 m and prefers sea temperatures of 4 - 12 °C. It migrates in shoals for feeding and lives on capelin and animal plankton. Saithe spawns mainly in February on the fishing banks in the southwest.

Saithe is chiefly caught by bottom trawl and gillnets. The most common age of the landed catch is 4 - 7 years weighing 2 - 4 kg.

At the beginning of 2007  the total fishable stock (4 years and older) was estimated at 250,000 tonnes and the spawning stock biomass at close to 140,000 tonnes.

Saithe catches have varied from 30,000 - 100,000 tonnes annually in the last 30 years, with an average of close to 60,000 tonnes.

Total landings of saithe by Icelandic vessels from Icelandic waters were 76,000 tonnes in the calendar year 2006, the highest for 14 years. TAC in the fishing year 2006/2007 was 80,000 tonnes, and in 2007/08 it is 75,000 tonnes, while the Marine Research Institute recommended 60,000 tonnes..

The diagram shows the development of the saithe catch since 2001, together with the recommendations of the MRI and the set TAC.
Saithe from Icelandic waters was a great favourite in continental Europe after the last World war. Fishing by foreign vessels greatly exceeded Icelandic catches until 1970 and were significant until 1980.

Latest update July 2007