Haddock

Icelandic haddock, is not in an overfished state. However, fishing pressure is too high.Haddock fishing in Iceland dates back to at least the early 1900s. Catches peaked at 120,000 tonnes in the 1960s before fluctuating around 50,000t. After another peak at 110,000t in 2007, catches dropped sharply to 34,000t in 2014. Recent catches have been around 80,000t.The spawning-stock biomass (SSB) peaked at very high levels in 2004, at around 150,000 tonnes. Since 2012, it has been relatively stable at around 80,000t. In 2022 it is 82,088, which is well above target levels (MSY BTrigger, 49,400t). The stock is therefore not in an overfished state.The Harvest Rate (HR) was was high between the 1980s and 2010s, exceeding levels associated with Maximum Sustainable Yield (HR MSY, 0.35). After briefly falling below this level from 2014-2016, it is again above MSY. In 2021, HR was 0.42, 20% above FMSY, indicating that the stock is being subjected to overfishing. However, it is below the precautionary limit of 0.63, so there is not an immediate risk of depleting the stock below safe levels.Based on Iceland's management plan, catches in the fishing year 2022/2023 should be no more than 62,219 tonnes. This is a 23% increase on the advice from the previous year because the stock is expected to increase in 2023 following good spawning years in 2019 and 2020.

There is a management plan in place. Catch limits are generally set in line with scientific advice, but catches regularly exceed them. All Icelandic haddock landed by the Icelandic fleet is MSC certified.This fishery is MSC certified with conditions relating to bycatch and environmental impacts. There are no requirements or recommendations to make any improvements to management.The Icelandic Ministry of Industries and Innovation (MII) is responsible for management of the Icelandic fisheries and implementation of legislation. Improved management measures by Iceland for most of its major stocks, including cod, haddock, saithe, redfish and herring have resulted in decreased fishing mortality, increased stocks and reduced pressure on benthic habitats.A Harvest Control Rule (HCR) is in place for haddock and is reviewed every five years. ICES considers it to be precautionary. It sets catch limits (Total Allowable Catches, TACs) with the aim of maintaining haddock at Maximum Sustainable Yield. TACs have been set in line with scientific advice since 2013/14. Catches have exceeded them in most years, usually by less than 10%. Landings from 2016-2020 averaged 49,817 tonnes, exceeding the average TAC (45,837t) by around 9%. In the two most recent fishing years (2019/20 and 2020/21), catches exceeded the TAC and advice by 17% and 14% respectively.Iceland's scientific body, the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, reports the causes for excess catches to be transfers of quota share between fishing years and conversion of TAC from one species to another. In 2020/21, catches were expected to exceed the TAC, because of the good state of the stock, so the TAC was increased by 8,000 tonnes mid-season. However, the catch exceeded the new TAC by an additional 7,000t. The management approach is therefore not successful at enforcing catch limits.According to the most recent stock assessment in 2022, the stock biomass is above target levels, but estimated fishing pressure is above MSY.In addition to TACs, the following measures are in place:There is no minimum landing size because all catches must be landed by law. To prevent catching juveniles, there are some dynamic closures in areas when a certain proportion of catches includes undersize fish.Since 1998 the minimum codend mesh size allowed in the trawling fishery has been 135 mm, which could reduce the catch of undersize fish.Spawning areas are closed for 2-3 weeks during the spawning season for all fisheries.The effects of these measures have not been evaluated.Discarding unwanted fish at sea is banned by the Icelandic government. Discards of haddock may have been substantial in the early 1990s but in recent years are estimated to be less than 3% in weight and numbers.There are a series of measures for monitoring and enforcement, including: publication of individual vessel quotas, independent verification and recording of landings, gear restrictions (and inspections), catch logs, and the coast guard has powers to intercept and inspect vessels.

Some haddock is caught by longlining. Longlining can have a bycatch of vulnerable species such as sharks and seabirds. There are a number of measures in place to reduce bycatch, but more needs to be done to ensure they are effective.100% of Icelandic haddock landed by the Icelandic fleet is MSC certified. Around 60% of catches are from bottom trawling, 30% from longlining, and 10% from Danish seine.Bycatch reporting in this fishery is mandatory, but data appears to be patchy and bycatch rates are uncertain.The main concern is the bycatch of seabirds. The available data indicates that while seabird bycatch does happen in this fishery, it is not at levels that are thought 'likely' to affect populations. Most seabird bycatch is attributed to the Icelandic lumpfish fishery. A number of seabird species in Icelandic waters have declined in recent decades, but ICES notes that the main cause is thought to be reduced prey availability. However, the bycatch rate of great black backed gulls (52/year) and northern fulmars (1,100/year) could possibly be contributing to the species' decline, or preventing it from recovering.ACAP (the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels) recommends best practice for reducing seabird bycatch in longline fisheries. This includes the simultaneous use of weighted hooks, bird scaring lines and night setting, or hook-shielding or underwater bait setting devices. There do not appear to be any formal requirements for measures in the longline fleet to reduce seabird bycatch, although longliners tend to have some in place to reduce loss of bait and damage to catch. The MSC certification is conditional on having a strategy to avoid bycatch, and better data to prove that it is not having a detrimental impact on Endangered, Threatened or Protected species.Sharks and skates are taken as bycatch in Icelandic fisheries, but catch rates are incomplete and the status of stocks is unknown. The endangered Atlantic halibut and porbeagle are impacted by fisheries around Iceland, so there is a landings ban and mandatory release.

Gaudian, G., Gascoigne, J., Medley, P., O´Boyle, R. and Cappell, R., 2019. ISF Iceland Multi-Species Demersal Fishery: Public Certification Report. Carried out by Vottunarstofan Tún ehf. on behalf of Iceland Sustainable Fisheries ehf. (ISF). Published on 10 September 2019. Available at https://fisheries.msc.org/en/fisheries/isf-iceland-multi-species-demersal-fishery/@@assessments [Accessed on 15.07.2022].Government of Iceland, 2018. Management Strategy and Harvest Control Rules Available at https://www.government.is/news/article/2018/05/15/Haddock/ [Accessed on 14.07.2022].Government of Iceland, 2022. Ministry of Food٫ Agriculture and Fisheries: Fisheries Management. Available at https://www.government.is/topics/business-and-industry/fisheries-in-iceland/fisheries-management/ [Accessed on 14.07.2022].ICES. 2021. Icelandic Waters ecoregion –Ecosystem overview. In Report of the ICES Advisory Committee, 2021. ICES Advice 2021, Section 11.1, https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.advice.9440 [Accessed on 14.07.2022].ICES, 2021. Icelandic Waters ecosystem – Fisheries overview. In Report of the ICES Advisory Committee, 2021. ICES Advice 2021, section 11.2. https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.advice.9167 [Accessed on 14.07.2022].ICES. 2022. Northwestern Working Group (NWWG). ICES Scientific Reports. 4:42. 734 pp. http://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.19771381 [Accessed on 14.07.2022].ICES, 2022. Haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) in Division 5.a (Iceland grounds). In Report of the ICES Advisory Committee, 2022. ICES Advice 2022, had.27.5a, https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.advice.19447949 [Accessed on 15.07.2022].MFRI, 2020. State of Marine Stocks and Advice 2020: Fisheries Overview. Marine and Freshwater Research Institute. Published 16 June 2020. Available at https://www.hafogvatn.is/static/files/2020-sidur/00d-fishoverview.pdf [Accessed on 06.07.2021].MFRI, 2022. MFRI Assessment Reports 2022: Haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus. Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, published 15 June 2022. Available at https://www.hafogvatn.is/static/extras/images/02-haddock_tr1325965.pdf [Accessed on 15.07.2022].MFRI, 2022. State of Marine Stocks and Advice: Haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus. Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, published 15 June 2022. Available at https://www.hafogvatn.is/static/extras/images/02-haddock1325964.pdf [Accessed on 15.07.2022].Polonio, V. and Donnelly, c., 2022. ISF Iceland haddock: 4th Surveillance Report. Carried out by Global Trust Certification on behalf of Iceland Sustainable Fisheries (ISF). Published on 08 February 2022. Available at https://fisheries.msc.org/en/fisheries/isf-iceland-haddock/@@assessments [Accessed on 15.07.2022].Reeves, S. A., Bell, J. B., Cambie, G., Davie, S. L., Dolder, P., Hyder, K., Pontalier, H., Radford Z. and Vaughan, D., 2018. An international review of fisheries management regimes. Cefas. Issued 2 August 2018. Available at http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Document.aspx?Document=14357_A_Review_of_International_Fisheries_Management_Regimes.pdf [Accessed on 06.07.2021].Scarcella,G.,Tsitsika, E., Hønneland, G. and Polonio, V., 2022. ISF Iceland Haddock: Announcement Comment Draft Report. Carried out by Global Trust Certification Ltd. on behalf of Iceland Sustainable Fisheries (ISF). Published on 4 March 2022. Available at https://fisheries.msc.org/en/fisheries/isf-iceland-haddock/@@assessments [Accessed on 15.07.2022].