Atlantic cod

Stock Status Score: 0

Icelandic cod is abundant and not subject to overfishing.

Stock assessments are carried out annually by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). The most recent assessment was published in 2026 using data up to 2026. The next assessment is expected in 2027.

The stock assessment defines reference points for harvest rate (HR) and biomass (B). For the harvest rate, there is a target to keep HR at or below Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY). For biomass, there is no target. However, there is a trigger point (MSY BTrigger). Below this level, HR should be reduced to allow the stock to increase. Because BMSY is not defined, the Good Fish Guide applies its own definition of 1.4 x MSY BTrigger.

Catches peaked at over 500,000 tonnes in the 1950s, gradually declining to around 150,000t in the 2000s, and are currently around 220,000t.

The spawning-stock biomass (SSB) was at low levels throughout the 1970s to early 2000s, close to the lowest safe biological limit (Blim: 125,000 tonnes). It increased to over 530,000 tonnes in 2017 and has since declined to 377,277t in 2026. However, SSB remains 42% above MSY BTrigger (265,000t) and slightly above the GFG proxy for BMSY (371,000t). Therefore, the stock is not considered overfished.

The Harvest Rate (HR) was high between the 1950s and 2000s, exceeding levels associated with Maximum Sustainable Yield (HR MSY, 0.22). However, HR has been below HR MSY since 2022, in 2025 HR was 0.198, this is 90% of HR MSY and indicates that the stock is not currently subject to overfishing.

Based on Iceland's management plan, catches in the fishing year 2026/2027 should be no more than 201,674 tonnes. This is a slight decrease to the advice from the previous year.

Management of the Target Stock Score: 0.25

Alignment with Scientific Advice Score: 1

Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Score: 0

There is a management plan in place, which has successfully reduced fishing pressure. All Icelandic cod landed by the Icelandic fleet is MSC certified. Catch limits have consistently been aligned with scientific advice, however total catches have been above advice and limits for the last 5 years and thus are not effectively controlled. Additionally, management is not adequately controlling the impacts of the fishery on bycatch species. Fully comprehensive monitoring, control, and surveillance with highly effective enforcement and negligible IUU fishing activity. 

The ISF Iceland Cod fishery is the primary MSC‑certified fishery for Icelandic cod and holds certification without conditions, indicating that no improvements to management are required. Fisheries management and legislative implementation fall under the responsibility of the Icelandic Ministry of Industries and Innovation (MII).

Iceland has strengthened management measures across major commercial stocks, including cod, haddock, saithe, redfish and herring. These improvements have contributed to reduced fishing mortality, increased stock sizes and lower pressure on benthic habitats.

A Harvest Control Rule (HCR) is in place for cod and is reviewed every five years. ICES considers the HCR precautionary, as it aims to maintain the stock at Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY). The HCR forms the basis for setting annual catch limits.

Several additional management measures support stock protection. Fishing is temporarily prohibited in areas where more than 25% of the catch (by number) is small cod under 55 cm, although scientific advice suggests these short closures may have limited effect on juvenile protection. Cod spawning grounds are closed for two to three weeks during the spawning season. The minimum codend mesh size in trawl fisheries has been set at 135 mm since 1998, larger than typical UK and European standards, with the intention of reducing catches of undersized fish. Discarding unwanted fish at sea is prohibited, although ICES estimates that approximately 1% of cod landings are still discarded, with indications that this may be increasing. There is no minimum landing size for cod in ICES Division 5.a, but economic penalties apply to landings valued below a minimum threshold to discourage retention of small fish.

The HCR sets annual Total Allowable Catches (TACs), and Iceland has aligned TACs with ICES scientific advice since 2010/11. Landings have exceeded TACs in all but two years since 1988, generally by less than 10%. Between 2018 and 2022, landings averaged 264,010 tonnes, approximately 4% above the average TAC of 254,677 tonnes.

The Icelandic government attributes TAC overages to several factors: quota transfers between years or species, allowances for undersized fish, catches by foreign vessels operating within Iceland’s EEZ (primarily Norway and the Faroe Islands), and research catches. TACs apply only to Icelandic fleets, which account for roughly 99% of total catch. Iceland’s scientific advisory body continues to recommend that all fishing mortality, including foreign catches, be incorporated into TAC-setting decisions.

Foreign access agreements allow Faroese vessels to take up to 5,600 tonnes of demersal species annually within Icelandic waters, including a maximum of 1,200 tonnes of cod. Norwegian catches also occur under bilateral agreements. Historically, these foreign catches were not included in the Ministry’s TAC allocation to Icelandic vessels.

According to the 2023 ICES stock assessment, fishing pressure on Icelandic cod is now below MSY, and the stock is no longer subject to overfishing.

Iceland maintains an extensive Monitoring, Control and Surveillance. Key elements include publication of individual vessel quotas, independent verification and recording of landings, gear restrictions and inspections, and mandatory electronic catch logs.

The Icelandic Coast Guard has authority to intercept and inspect vessels operating within the EEZ. Satellite-based vessel monitoring (AIS and VMS) is mandatory for all vessels, regardless of size, providing continuous oversight of fishing activity.

A development with MCS within this fishery is the rapid expansion of drone‑based monitoring, which began experimentally in 2022 and now allows inspectors to detect anomalies, observe gear and identify discarding through live‑streamed footage. New long‑range drones introduced in 2025 can operate up to 20 nautical miles offshore, apply AI to analyse fishing activity and reduce the need for inshore physical inspections. Iceland also led a Nordic Council project on remote fisheries monitoring, and infringement reporting increased to 371 cases in 2024, with discarding and weighing irregularities accounting for most sanctions.

Capture Method Score: 0.75

Habitat Impacts: 0.5

Bycatch Impacts: 0.75

Vulnerable and ETP Species: 0.25

Ecosystems and Trophic Webs: 0.25

Most Icelandic cod catches are by otter trawling, which is likely to cause some damage to the seabed. Bycatch of spotted wolffish and beaked redfish is of concern. There are a number of measures in place to mitigate impacts on species and habitats, but more needs to be done to ensure they are effective.

100% of Icelandic cod landed by the Icelandic fleet is MSC certified. Around 57% of cod catches are from bottom trawling; 22% from longlining and the remainder from gillnetting (7%), demersal seine (7%) and hooks or jigs (7%). There are no conditions on the certified fishery relating to the impacts of trawling.

Demersal otter trawls have the potential to take relatively high quantities of bycatch. Fish species include the spotted wolffish, listed as Near Threathened on the IUCN redlist, which has been steadily declining and is now at its lowest historical level following recruitment failure. It is mainly caught as bycatch and has a recommended catch limit of around 300t. It survives well after being released, and so over-quota wolffish are recommended to be released. However, the certification report suggests a bycatch in the certified cod longline and trawl fleets of over 650 tonnes in 2023/24, which appears to account for almost all catches of this species and totals 2 times the recommended limit. It seems likely that this fishery is contributing to the unsustainable fishing pressure on this species and could be preventing recovery.

Demersal beaked redfish has been a concern but is no longer under a zero-catch recommendation. No fish younger than 10 years have been found in recent surveys, suggesting recruitment failure and a continued decline. This is a slow growing species that matures at 20 years. MFRI reports that this species is targeted by bottom trawlers, but MSC reports indicate the certified cod trawl fishery caught around 3,800 tonnes during the 2023/24 fishing year this is a decrease from the 10,000t per year from 2016-2020. However, this continued bycatch of the zero-catch stock may be preventing the stock from rebuilding. Therefore, it appears very likely that this fishery is contributing to the ongoing poor state of the redfish stock.

It is illegal to target Atlantic halibut in Iceland, and any viable halibut caught as bycatch must be released. Trawling caught around 200t during the 2023/24 fishing year. Biomass appears to have increased in recent years, so this fishery does not appear to be preventing population recovery.

Sharks and skates are taken as bycatch in Icelandic fisheries, but the status of many stocks is unknown. There are records of Greenland shark and spurdog bycatch; spurdog is protected under Icelandic law.

A low level of grey and harbour seal bycatch was reported in this fishery between 2014 and 2017 averaging 15 and 20 animals respectively. Populations of both species have declined since the 1980s, but this appears to be mainly related to hunting. There has also been a small bycatch of northern gannet. Bird and mammal bycatch levels in this fishery are not expected to have population-level impacts.

Demersal trawls have contact with the seabed resulting in penetration and abrasion of habitat features. The impact of trawling on the seabed depends on the location and scale in which trawling occurs. In the Icelandic area, ICES indicates that abrasion from bottom trawling has affected fragile biogenic habitats, e.g. sponge aggregations, coral gardens, and coral reefs, mainly in deeper waters below 200m. Effects of bottom trawling on soft substrates in shallow waters have been shown to be minor. There has been a general reduction in bottom trawling across all Icelandic fisheries, which has led to reduced pressure on the seabed. Data from 2018 indicates that trawling was happening on 17.5% of the seabed area.

Fishing grounds for cod vary, depending on the gear type used, but are generally between 100m-500m deep. Bottom trawling takes place offshore, where the habitat is generally sandy mud to muddy sand. The average depth is 230m. The Marine Stewardship Council assessment considers it unlikely that otter trawling is overlapping with any vulnerable seabed habitats (e.g., maerl, coral, sponges) owing to the depth range of the fishery and the inability of trawling to take place on steep slopes. There are closed areas to protect hard corals and hydrothermal vents, and these protections are being extended to other biogenic habitats such as deep-sea sponges and soft corals. Otter trawling is banned within 12nm of the coast. In total, 2% of Icelandic waters are fully protected from bottom fishing.