Ecosystem overviews

Norwegian Sea

Pressure: Selective extraction of species (including non-target catch)

​​​​​Fishing is the main human activity contributing to selective extraction of species, which is the most important pressure in the Norwegian Sea ecoregion. Four nations report the majority of landings from the Norwegian Sea ecoregion. These are, in order of importance, Norway, the Russian Federation, Faroe Islands, and Iceland. It is estimated that approximately 2550 vessels in all size categories (< 15 m to > 100 m) operate in the ecoregion. The major fishing gears applied are bottom otter trawls, static gears, and bottom seines along the Norwegian coast, and pelagic trawls and seines in the open sea. Fishing effort by Norwegian vessels has declined in recent years. For a detailed description of commercial fisheries in the Norwegian Sea ecoregion see ICES Fisheries Overview for the ecoregion.

In addition to the fisheries, there is also limited whaling directed at the minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) stock.

​Landings

The majority of landings come from pelagic fish stocks, with minor landings from demersal stocks, and negligible landings from benthic, elasmobranch, and crustacean stocks. Since 1950, annual landings of the major six stocks targeted by commercial fisheries range from 0.7 million tonnes to 1 million tonnes. Five of the six major stocks are pelagic: NSS herring, mackerel, blue whiting, beaked redfish (Sebastes mentella), and greater silver smelt (Argentina silus); and one is demersal, Northeast Arctic saithe (Pollachius virens). Norwegian annual landings of minke whales have ranged from 429 to 736 individuals during 2010–2019. The number of whaling vessels is currently decreasing.

​Impacts on commercial stocks

Fishing mortality (F) for the three major pelagic stocks in the ecoregion - NSS herring, mackerel, and blue whiting - has been highly variable since the 1980s, fluctuating above and below the reference point (FMSY), at a level that produces maximum sustainable yield (MSY). According to the most recent assessment, F is above reference point for NSS herring and blue whiting, but below for mackerel (Figure 3).

​Impact on threatened and declining fish species

Seven fish species on the OSPAR list of threatened and declining species are currently listed for the Norwegian Sea (see Table 1). None of these species have targeted fishery today. Most of the species remain vulnerable to bycatch by various fishing gear. Reported annual bycatch is 24­ tonnes of basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) and 56 tonnes of porbeagle (Lamna nasus). Approximately 80 000 eels (Anguilla anguilla) are caught annually and the majority are released unharmed. Reported spurdog (Squalus acanthias) bycatch is 1156 tonnes for the 2010–2018 period.

Impact on seabirds and marine mammals

Coastal fisheries are mainly responsible for seabird and marine mammal bycatch. Harbour porpoises, harbour seals (Phoca vitulina), and grey seals frequently drown in fishing gear. The annual harbour porpoise bycatch in the Norwegian coastal water gillnet fisheries in the 2006–2018 period ranged from 1151 to 6144 individuals, with an average of about 2900. This exceeds the sustainable anthropogenic removal threshold, defined using a potential biological removal (PBR) framework. From 2013 to 2018, however, a significant reduction occurred which brought the annual average down to about 1600 individuals, which is below both ASCOBANS 1.7% limit as well as the PBR threshold. A possible reason for this decline is reduced effort in the monkfish fishery. There are very few records of larger marine mammals, such as sperm whale (Physeter macrocehpalus) and humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), being killed or injured by fishing gear. For seabirds, high bycatch rates have been observed in gillnet fisheries and more moderate rates in longline fisheries along the Norwegian coast.​

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Figure 3 (click to enlarge): Time series of annual relative fishing mortality (F to FMSY ratio) for the three major pelagic fish stocks; Norwegian spring-spawning herring, mackerel, and blue whiting.

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Norwegian Sea

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