Outlook for fisheries in the North Basin in March 2008

The situation on bottomfish grounds in the Barents Sea is expected to remain on a par with February 2008.

As the bulk of cod and haddock will distribute in the territorial waters of Norway in the vicinity of the fishing grounds especially in the closing ten days of March, the total harvest of bottomfish species through the month is expected to decrease by 10-15%.

In the south of the Lofoten the fishermen are forecasted to increase catches of saithe which will form mixed concentrations with cod. On some grounds the fleets will be able to conduct direct fishery of the species. Beyond the Norwegian EEZ the cod and haddock grounds with a good fishing potential will be formed within the Grey zone, but there fish will be smaller in size.

Experimental fishery of Barents Sea capelin in the Russian waters will finish by the beginning of the closing ten days of March immediately before the start of the stock's active spawning. The entire 4000-5000 tonnes of capelin to be harvested in February-March 2008 will be landed in Murmansk.

As the spawning period finishes and some of spent fish moves to the north, the conditions for blue whiting fishery to the west of the British Isles in the area of the 56th degree North will start worsening by the end of March.

In late-March some of the Russian trawlers will begin moving to the south part of the Faroese zone to continue harvesting spent fish. The nation's pelagic fish harvest in the Central Eastern Atlantic is forecasted to grow thanks to increasing fishing efforts.