– halibut fishing more or less destroyed for many

The Ministry of Trade and Fisheries came on Wednesday with regulatory measures related to fishing after the two species Breiflab and halibut

– The fishery team is pleased that the ministry has listened to us and not introduced quota regulation in fishing for knit flabs, says Kåre Heggebø in a news message from the Fiskarlaget.

He points out that no changes in the yarn restriction in this fishing are also introduced.

– On the other hand, when it comes to halibut north of 62˚N, the Ministry’s decision to limit this will limit this to four tonnes per year. Vessels, including by -catch, mean that for many or less halibut will be destroyed as an alternative additional fishing, Heggebø points out.

Demanding on the halibut

The catch statistics for recent years show that a significant number of vessels have halibut catches beyond four tonnes, and the Fiskarlaget had expected the quota to have been set at a higher level.

The fishery team acknowledges that there is a need to lower the fishing pressure on the halibut, but would prefer that one started by limiting the period when a direct fishing is run on the halibut, beyond what is considered as the spawning period.

The fishery team therefore believes that a quantum restriction must also be determined for recreational anglers, as one has for cod north of 62N.

The Norwegian Fisheries Association assumes that the introduced regulatory measures for halibut must be followed closely in the future, and evaluated, possibly adjusted if experiences show unreasonable and unforeseen consequences.