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

Bycatch Impacts: 0.25

Vulnerable and ETP Species: 0.5

Ecosystems and Trophic Webs: 0.25

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 64% of catches are from bottom trawling, 22% from longlining, and 14% 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 landings ban and mandatory release.