Quota talks on Barents Sea resources

The two nations will mainly be discussing quotas for cod, haddock and capelin.

According to the Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries, last year’s Barents Sea fisheries had a value of NOK 16 billion.

The upcoming talks are of great interest to the Faroe Islands, too, since third-country quotas are usually determined on the basis of the total quota agreed between Norway and Russia.

The Faroese Barents quota was at its highest in 2017, when it was 30,000 tonnes. Norway and Russia reduced their total 2018 Barents quota by 10 percent, which caused the Faroese Barents quota to drop to 27,000 tonnes.

This quota is expected to decrease even further this year. ICES (the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) has recommended that next year’s cod quota in the Barents Sea should be no higher than 675,000 tonnes, which is a 100,000-reduction on this year’s quota.

Last year, ICES recommended a cod quota of 712,000 tonnes in the Barents Sea, but Norway and Russia settled on 775,000 tonnes.

ICES has recommended that that the haddock quota in the Barents Sea should be reduced from 202,000 to 150,000 tonnes.

Translated by prosa.fo