Norway and Russia to cut northeast Arctic cod quota by 16%

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Aerial view Barents Sea winter - stock photo - Getty Image

Negotiations between Norway and Russia over fish stocks in the Barents Sea were frosty and dragged on longer than expected

Norway and Russia have reached a fisheries agreement for 2026, which includes a reduced quota for northeast Arctic cod.

The total quota for northeast Arctic cod in 2026 was set at 285,000t, a reduction of 16% compared to this year’s.

This makes 2026’s quota the lowest since 1991, although Norway’s minister for fisheries and oceans Marianne Sivertsen Næss said “we have laid the foundation for an increase in the stock”.

Quotas were also agreed over Greenland halibut, beaked redfish and haddock, which have been set at 19,000t, 69,177t, and 153,293t, respectively.

With the war in Ukraine exacerbating tensions between the two states, the Norwegian government said the agreement was crucial to ensure sustainable management of fish stock in the Barents Sea.

In a statement released after negotiations concluded on Thursday, Sivertsen Næss admitted the talks had been challenging, with sanctions on two major Russian fishing companies – Norebo and Murman Seafood – affecting them.

There had been fears of a total breakdown in communications ahead of the Norwegian-Russian Joint Fisheries Committee meeting, underscored when Russia’s Federal Agency for Fisheries warned Norway to lift the sanctions or face retaliatory measures.

‘It doesn’t go far enough’

Advice for setting the quotas came from a bilateral working group between Norway’s Institute of Marine Research (IMR) and the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, with the IMR recommending a reduction of 21% in the cod quota.

Conservation groups have argued the agreed quota reductions do not go far enough.

“While it’s a positive step to see an agreement met, it doesn’t go far enough to protect stocks,” said Marine Conservation Society’s head of ocean regeneration and sustainable seafood Chris Graham. “Scientific advice should be the baseline for catch limits to aid stock recovery.

“Sustainable management must balance economic needs with conservation by adhering to the best available science today, not just hope for future improvements.”

The Norwegian Seafood Council argued the move had been necessary, however, to secure co-operative arrangements that strengthen compliance, shared responsibility and long-term management outcomes.

“Overall fishing pressure is substantially reduced, and spawning stock biomass is expected to increase,” it said. “The agreements also include commitments to further develop science-based, long-term management strategies.

“Such frameworks are essential to avoid short-term solutions and reduce the risk of abrupt quota reductions in the future.”

When the British government helped to negotiate a 44% reduction for cod in the North Sea earlier this month, fisheries minister Angela Eagle said it had prioritised sustainability and the protection of jobs in coastal communities.

The president of National Federation of Fish Friers, Andrew Crook, however, said the implications for global cod prices on the back of the quota cuts meant his industry would “bear the brunt of the financial burden”.

“We certainly understand that these measures need to be taken to preserve fish stocks, but in this current climate we really think it is time our own government woke up to the fact that without change to the tax burden levied on the sector we are unlikely to see the sector grow,” Crook said.

“I think it is going to be more important than ever for my members to explore some alternative species to help try to plug the gap in supply and help to hit a price point for customers.”