The long-standing bilateral fisheries treaty between the Faroe Islands and the Russian Federation has been extended for 2025, after negotiations conducted earlier this week. The catch quota for Atlantic cod was significantly reduced as expected following the agreement made earlier this year between Norway and Russia, which saw the total allowable catch in the Barents Sea cod fishery reduced by as much as one-fourth.
Hanus Hansen, chief executive of JFK, one of the Faroese fishing companies involved in the Barents Sea fishery, expressed his satisfaction with the agreement, which for the Faroese means a slightly less catch quota reduction compared to what is implied in the Russo-Norwegian deal on fisheries management of the area.
As per the updated agreement, the Faroese catch quotas for cod and haddock in the Russian sector of the Barents Sea are reduced by almost 24 percent and 4.5 pc., respectively, with the quotas for flatfish and northern shrimp remaining unchanged from the previous season. By volume for 2025, that puts the total Faroese cod quota in Russian waters at 7,445 tonnes, haddock at 1,000 tonnes, flatfish at 900 tonnes and shrimp at 4,000 tonnes, according to the Ministry of Fisheries and Infrastructure.
Meanwhile Russian mackerel and herring catch quotas in Faroese waters have been reduced by over one-third and just over one-tenth, respectively, whereas the Russian quota for blue whiting remains unchanged from 2024, at a total 75,000 tonnes. As for mackerel and herring, the Russian catch quotas have been set at just over 8,000 tonnes and at 5,800 tonnes, respectively.
