October 3, 2012 — Norwegian and Russian scientists recently concluded this year’s joint ecosystem mission to the Barents Sea. The conclusion is that the cod stock in the Barents Sea has set a new record when it somes to northern distribution.
The Russian research vessel “Vilnjus” found cod as far north as 82 degrees 30 minutes north.
The cod stock in the Barents Sea is considered to be the largest in the world. The quotas for 2013 will probably be over 900.000 tons.
“The northernmost observations were of rather small amount of fish, but we still see a trend that the main stocks of the North Atlantic cod migrate further north and east than earlier”, mission leader Harald Gjøsæter says to the Institute of Marine Research’s web site.
The reasons for the record distribution are according to the scientists higher sea temperatures and sufficient supply of food.
Read the full article at the Barents Observer