The story summed up Fisherman Jostein Fredriksen from Napp in Lofoten had a historic catch of cod. Marine researchers are still not optimistic, as the catch rate has decreased in recent years. Fredriksen and his crew landed 44 tonnes of cod in one day, which earned them NOK 1.7 million. Good catches have been reported in several places in the north of the country, but overall there is less cod caught this year than last year. Researchers at the Institute of Marine Research say that the decline in the cod population is a trend, but that there are still places with large concentrations of fish. Fredriksen believes there is no cod crisis, and that the fish are just swimming shallower than before. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. In recent years, cod’s future has been painted in gloomy colours. The fish that used to flow in have hardly come in the last few years. Last year, many fishermen were made redundant in Lofoten and Vesterålen. Then the fish did not arrive until March. But this year it looks brighter. At least for fisherman Jostein Fredriksen from Napp in Lofoten. On Sunday, he made a historic catch. – Nine tonnes on the first link. It’s a new record, the fishermen wrote contentedly to their friends on social media. Freddy Fredriksen – The conditions were completely extreme. I have never experienced this before. It was absolutely huge. But the ocean researchers do not jump at the news of the gold catch. – The catch rate in fishing has decreased in recent years. There are trends that rhyme well with what we see in our research reports. It has been declining, says Bjarte Bogstad. I think the fish swim shallower On Saturday, the last storm of the week hit Nordland. But Fredriksen and the rest of the crew got out in the bad weather and set nets. The Breivik boat, the boat Jostein Fredriksen is crewing on, usually starts Lofoten fishing on 1 January. But this year they started a little later. On 15 January, the shark left the quay. Photo: Jostein Fredriksen / Private They were actually fishing for sei. But then they discovered that there was a lot of cod in the nets. Then they switched to cod fishing. When they pulled the nets, they found a catch the likes of which they had never seen before. – It is completely unheard of. We had no room in the boat, says the fisherman. In the past, they have had individual catches of 20 tonnes. But never before have they pulled 44 tonnes on 160 nets. Freddy Fredriksen It was Lofotposten that reported the catch first. The fishermen on the Breivik boat fish with net chains. A yarn is 30 meters long. After 3 chains, or 75 meters of net, they had about 30 tonnes of cod in the boat and had to go in with the fish before they could get the rest. In the end, they had landed 44 tonnes in one day. And that’s how money is made. Fredriksen has never received as much for the fish as he is doing this year. He gets about NOK 40 per kg gutted fish. That means that he and the crew burned 1.7 million in just one day. Weather may have been an advantage Charles Aas, department director for sales at the raw fish team, says that good catches have been reported in several places in the north of the country. – It seems that the ice is heading south. He has already come to Vest-Finnmark and Troms, he says. So far this year, 9,500 tonnes of skrei have been taken ashore. But at this time last year, the fishermen had caught around 5,000 tonnes more than this year. Charles Aas, department director for sales at the Råfisklaget, says the bad weather meant that the fishermen were a little behind last year. But the bad weather may have been an advantage Photo: Norges Råfislag – It’s a bit behind last year. It is because of the bad weather last week, says Aas. In the bad weather week, only 200 tonnes of cod were caught, according to the department director. It is very little for the month of January. But the bad weather may also have been an advantage for the fishermen. In the vernacular, it is said that it takes a storm for the ice to come on the inside of Lofoten. Photo: Synnøve Sundby Fallmyr – Perhaps the skrei have used the storm to get a little closer to the coast. The fishermen must also catch 25-30 per cent less fish this year than last year, according to advice from the researchers. – Therefore, it is no drama that we are a little behind last year, says Aas. – If there are fewer fish Bjarte Bogstad, researcher at the Institute of Marine Research, says the catch may indicate that the cod is arriving earlier than last year. But last year the cod arrived particularly late. 2023 was a special year for fishermen. The fish were actually further north then. But now the fisherman from Napp has faith that the fish will come south. Photo: Synnøve Sundby Fallmyr – How does this large catch relate to the decline in the cod population? – You cannot draw conclusions from just one observation. Although there will be fewer fish, there will always be places where there are large concentrations, says Bogstad. The fisherman in Lofoten does not think there is any cod crisis. – Compared to last year, there are 5-10 times more cod in the catches than there was last year, says Fredriksen. He believes there is another reason why the researchers do not find the cod in their measurements: namely that the fish swim in the upper water layers. The price for the fish in the fridge is about three times what the fishermen get for the fish. – But they are the cleanest you can eat, so it’s actually not expensive, says fisherman Fredriksen. Photo: Petter Strøm – We fish in the Barents Sea in autumn. Then we notice that there is a lot of cod, even if the researchers who come later do not find anything. But the marine scientist believes their calculations are safe enough. – We observe both with trawl and sonar, and try to cover the entire water island from top to bottom. But the height of the fish can vary both over time and area, says Bogstad. – There is little disagreement in the industry that the broad trends in the development of the cod stock are declining. – Is the decline dramatic? – We have been much lower than now, but we should fish so carefully that we manage to stop the decline, says the researcher. No time for celebration There was no time for any celebration after the gold catch for the fishermen in the Breivik boat. The crayfish fishing is underway, and they had to go straight out and fish again. The next day they caught around 15 tonnes of fish. It is more normal, says Fredriksen. Jostein Fredriksen from Napp started as a fisherman when he was 16 years old. Thus, he is now in his 45th Lofoten season. – And I haven’t been sick for a day. I’m a little proud of that. Photo: Jostein Fredriksen / Privat – Is the end of luck now? – There were very few people out fishing in those days. That may be why we got so much. But I think there can be many good years for those who are fishermen now.
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Fiskar lit almost 2 million kroner in one day of scree fishing – news Nordland
