Haddock

Stock Status Score: 0.25

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.

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.

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 2026 it is 139,691t, which is well above target levels (MSY BTrigger, 64,400t). The stock is therefore not in an overfished state.

The Harvest Rate (HR) 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 2025, HR was 0.42, 20% above FMSY, indicating that the stock is being subjected to overfishing.

Based on Iceland's management plan, catches in the fishing year 2026/2027 should be no more than 63,206 tonnes. This is a 20% decrease on the advice from the previous year because in the reduction in reference biomass.

Management of the Target Stock Score: 0.5

Alignment with Scientific Advice Score: 1

Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Score: 0

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%. Catches from 2021-2025 consistently exceeded advice, including in the most recent year.

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. The management approach is therefore not successful at enforcing catch limits.

According to the most recent stock assessment in 2026, 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.

Capture Method Score: 0.5

Habitat Impacts: 0.5

Bycatch Impacts: 0.5

Vulnerable and ETP Species: 0.25

Ecosystems and Trophic Webs: 0.25

Most Icelandic haddock catches are by otter trawling, which is likely to cause some damage to the seabed. Bycatch is moderate. 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 haddock landed by the Icelandic fleet is MSC certified. Around 64% of catches are from bottom trawling, 22% from longlining, and 14% from Danish seine.

Demersal otter trawls have the potential to take relatively high quantities of bycatch. In the Northeast Atlantic there are reported catches of demersal elasmobranchs and endangered, threatened and protected (ETP) species (e.g. sharks, rays and marine mammals). The Marine Stewardship Council certification indicates that there may be low levels of bycatch in this fishery, although better observer coverage is needed for greater confidence in the data. Some seal and gannet bycatch has been recorded, but the trawl fishery is not considered to be having population-level effects.

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.

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. Approximately 85% of haddock catches are from shallower than 200m. Bottom trawling takes place offshore, where the habitat is generally sandy mud to muddy sand. 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.

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.