Zero catch advice for capelin remains

Árni Friðriksson, the research vessel.
Photo by Svanhildur Egilsdóttir

The Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (MFRI) advises that when the harvest control rule agreed by the Coastal States is applied, there should be zero catch in winter 2023/2024.

This advice is in coherence with the existing initial advice that was based on acoustic measurements of immature capelin in the autumn 2022.

The advice will be revised based on results of acoustic measurements of the fishable stock in early 2024.

This advice is based on results from acoustic measurements on the capelin stock by RV Árni Friðriksson (Icelandic) and RV Tarajoq (Greenlandic) conducted during the period 23 August to 23 September 2023.

The acoustic survey is considered to have covered the distribution area of the stock. Drift ice prevented coverage in the northernmost part of the survey area, but it is considered unlikely that capelin was present in the skipped area. The survey estimate had low coefficient of variation (CV=0.23) as the capelin was relatively evenly distributed.

The total biomass came to 697 000 tonnes of which the spawning stock amounted to 325 000 tonnes.

The estimated amount of juveniles was 48 billion but more than 50 billion is required to provide non-zero preliminary advice according to the HCR for the fishing season 2024/25. The results of the juvenile measurements will be presented within ICES, which will give advice on TAC for capelin for the fishing season 2024/25 later.

 
Image 1. The survey tracks of RV Árni Friðriksson (red) and Tarajoq (blue) in August to September 2023 and the distribution of capelin.

Find more on MRFI's Caplin advice, here.