Lower catches in the demersal and flatfish categories saw the total volume of fish landed by Iceland’s fishing fleet in January 2026 fall by 5% year-on-year or more than 3,600 tonnes to 74,945 tonnes, according to preliminary figures for the month gathered by Statistics Iceland.
The downturn came despite a 1% uplift in pelagic catches to 43,145 tonnes and 72% more shellfish at 128 tonnes.
However, the new data also found the 12-month February 2025 to January 2026 catch increased 4% to 1,028,480 tonnes. This was largely thanks to an 11% upturn in the pelagic volume.
With regards to last month’s total, the demersal catch decreased by 11% compared with the year previously to 30,700 tonnes, with cod, haddock, saithe and redfish catches falling 2%, 27%, 10% and 22%, respectively, to 18,656 tonnes, 5,347 tonnes, 1,896 tonnes and 2,750 tonnes.
At the same time, Iceland’s flatfish volume slipped 27% to 971 tonnes.
Within the pelagic category, the herring catch was up 2% year-on-year to 7,910 tonnes, blue whiting total fell 1% to 34,329 tonnes. No mackerel was recorded for the month, but 906 tonnes of capelin was reported.
Meanwhile, the 12-month data confirmed a pelagic catch of 591,709 tonnes, with herring and mackerel up 23% and 45%, respectively, to 174,117 tonnes and 129,621 tonnes. The blue whiting volume fell 7% to 282,297 tonnes.
Demersal landings fell 2% to 412,978 tonnes, with cod and haddock down 2% and 5% to 216,312 tonnes and 80,630 tonnes, respectively, and redfish also falling 2% - down to 41,044 tonnes. The saithe volume increased 3% to 38,778 tonnes.
The 12-month totals for the flatfish and shellfish fisheries amounted to 19,886 tonnes (-17%) and 3,778 tonnes (+3%), respectively.
