The total catch of Icelandic vessels was 1,048 thousand tonnes in the year 2019 which, according to preliminary data, is 211 thousand tonnes less than in 2018. The catch value was around 145 billion ISK which is 17 billion more than in the previous year. Cod catch received around 70 billion ISK which is 21.8% more than in 2018. For other demersal species the value of catch increased significantly. The catch of pelagic species was less mostly due to no capelin being landed in 2019.
| Catch and value of catch2018–2019 | ||||||
| Tonnes/million ISK | Catch, January-December | Value of catch, January-December | ||||
| 2018 | 2019 | % | 2018 | 2019 | % | |
| Total | 1,258,551 | 1,047,515 | -16.8 | 127,937 | 145,065 | 13.4 |
| Demersal catch | 480,224 | 480,904 | 0.1 | 90,755 | 112,299 | 23.7 |
| Cod | 275,017 | 272,977 | -0.7 | 57,445 | 69,947 | 21.8 |
| Haddock | 48,459 | 57,745 | 19.2 | 10,589 | 14,428 | 36.3 |
| Saithe | 66,250 | 64,681 | -2.4 | 7,947 | 10,430 | 31.2 |
| Redfish | 57,989 | 53,352 | -8.0 | 10,208 | 12,102 | 18.5 |
| Other demersal fish | 447,716 | 448,756 | 0.2 | 4,565 | 5,391 | 18.1 |
| Flatfish catch | 27,090 | 22,185 | -18.1 | 10,162 | 9,317 | -8.3 |
| Pelagic catch | 738,739 | 534,372 | -27.7 | 24,405 | 21,578 | -11.6 |
| Herring | 123,905 | 137,930 | 11.3 | 4,640 | 5,905 | 27.3 |
| Capelin | 186,326 | 0 | – | 5,892 | 0 | – |
| Blue whiting | 292,949 | 268,357 | -8.4 | 6,366 | 7,181 | 12.8 |
| Mackerel | 135,559 | 128,084 | -5.5 | 7,507 | 8,491 | 13.1 |
| Other pelagic fish | 0 | 1 | – | 0 | 0 | – |
| Shellfish | 12,498 | 10,050 | -19.6 | 2,615 | 1,870 | -28.5 |
| Lobster | 728 | 259 | -64.4 | 568 | 267 | -53.0 |
| Shrimp | 4,473 | 2,920 | -34.7 | 1,489 | 1,053 | -29.3 |
| Other shellfish | 7,297 | 6,872 | -5.8 | 559 | 550 | -1.5 |
| Miscellaneous | 0 | 3 | – | 0 | 0 | – |
The value of catch in 2019, according to type of landing, resulted in catch for domestic processing being 77.5 billion ISK which is 53% of the total catch value. The value of catch frozen at sea was 37.8 billion ISK and the value of catch intended for auction markets was 22.2 billion ISK.
The average prices of domestic catch increased by 22.8% in 2019 compared to the previous year. The average price of cod was 255 ISK/kg, the average price of haddock was 247 ISK/kg and the average price of redfish was 225 ISK/kg. The average price of cod sold in direct sales for domestic processing was 224 ISK/kg, the average price of cod frozen at sea was 356 ISK/kg and cod sold at auction markets averaged at 312 ISK/kg.
| Catch and value of catch by type of landing 2018–2019 | ||||||
| 2018 | 2019 | % | 2018 | 2019 | % | |
| Total catch (tonnes) | Value of catch (million ISK) | |||||
| Total | 1,258,551 | 1,047,515 | -16.8 | 127,937 | 145,065 | 13.4 |
| For domestic processing | 984,339 | 788,261 | -19.9 | 70,842 | 77,508 | 9.4 |
| To auction markets | 92,091 | 87,574 | -4.9 | 19,555 | 22,213 | 13.6 |
| Frozen at sea | 154,877 | 132,597 | -14.4 | 31,488 | 37,825 | -77 |
| For export in containers | 24,744 | 23,017 | -7.0 | 5,792 | 6,287 | 8.6 |
| Other landing types | 2,500 | 16,065 | 542.7 | 260 | 1,232 | 373.0 |
| Cod catch (tonnes) | Cod catch value (million ISK) | |||||
| Total | 275,017 | 256,094 | -6.9 | 57,445 | 65,287 | 13.7 |
| For domestic processing | 195,549 | 183,039 | -6.4 | 36,531 | 40,997 | 12.2 |
| To auction markets | 42,437 | 34,800 | -18.0 | 10,484 | 10,843 | 3.4 |
| Frozen at sea | 31,138 | 32,852 | 6 | 8,810 | 11,692 | 33 |
| For export in containers | 4,792 | 3,882 | -19.0 | 1,440 | 1,405 | -2.4 |
| Other landing types | 1,102 | 1,521 | 38.0 | 181 | 349 | 93.0 |
Non-Icelandic vessels landed about 53 thousand tonnes tonnes in Iceland in 2019, 59% less than the year before which is mostly because no capelin was caught or landed. The value of catch from foreign vessels was 6.4 billion ISK which is 34% less than in 2018. The catch was mostly shrimp, 4.3 billions ISK, blue whiting for 1.3 billion ISK and cod valued at 577 billion ISK. About 74% of foreign catch was landed directly for domestic processing, 25% was frozen at sea and less than 1% went to auction markets.
| Landings of foreign vessels in Iceland, catch and catch value | |||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | ||
| Total | Tonnes | 90,665 | 148,478 | 94,567 | 114,682 | 130,435 | 53,465 |
| Million ISK | 10,126 | 11,486 | 9,506 | 7,760 | 9,721 | 6,409 | |
| Cod | Tonnes | 2,803 | 2,234 | 3,373 | 3,756 | 1,847 | 2,036 |
| Million ISK | 640 | 597 | 849 | 821 | 468 | 577 | |
| Other demersal fish | Tonnes | 2,706 | 1,559 | 1,164 | 808 | 575 | 585 |
| Million ISK | 514 | 304 | 155 | 103 | 90 | 115 | |
| Flatfish | Tonnes | 7 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Million ISK | 3 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Herring | Tonnes | 0 | 2,791 | 1,759 | 621 | 0 | 0 |
| Million ISK | 0 | 113 | 118 | 30 | 0 | 0 | |
| Norwegian spring-spawn herring | Tonnes | 0 | 1 | 678 | 0 | 138 | 1,341 |
| Million ISK | 0 | 6 | 54 | 0 | 18 | 82 | |
| Capelin and capelin roe | Tonnes | 50,349 | 89,868 | 22,210 | 59,538 | 71,355 | 0 |
| Million ISK | 2,785 | 4,014 | 1,198 | 2,839 | 2,672 | 0 | |
| Blue whiting | Tonnes | 20,512 | 38,991 | 47,985 | 36,138 | 38,341 | 36,157 |
| Million ISK | 556 | 1,492 | 1,869 | 756 | 1,045 | 1,263 | |
| Mackerel | Tonnes | 286 | 935 | 3,715 | 1,290 | 3,116 | 1,062 |
| Million ISK | 20 | 40 | 169 | 38 | 110 | 58 | |
| Shrimp | Tonnes | 13,994 | 12,067 | 13,680 | 12,531 | 15,058 | 12,283 |
| Million ISK | 5,606 | 4,912 | 5,093 | 3,172 | 5,318 | 4,314 | |
| Landed for domestic processing (%) | 82 | 92 | 89 | 87 | 88 | 74 | |
| Sold in auction markets (%) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Frozen at sea (%) | 18 | 5 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 25 | |
Preliminary data shows that 619 thousand tonnes of fish products was exported from Iceland in 2019, 7.8% less than in the previous year. The export value of fish products was 260 billion ISK, 8.5% more than in 2018. Export of cod pruducts was 118 billion ISK, 17% more than the year before. About 53 thousand tonnes of cod products was exported frozen, 41 thousand tonnes exported fresh and 24 thousand tonnes was salted. 94 thousand tonnes of mackerel was exported worth 19 billion ISK and 24 thousand tonnes of haddock worth 18 billion ISK.
| Export and export values of five most valuable fish products 2018-2019 | |||||||
| 2018 | 2019 | ||||||
| Species | Product category | Tonnes | Million ISK (FOB) | Tonnes | Million ISK (FOB) | Change in quantity % | Change in value % |
| Total | 670,729 | 239,815 | 618,719 | 260,089 | -7.8 | 8.5 | |
| Cod | All categories | 132,298 | 100,432 | 132,174 | 117,521 | -0.1 | 17.0 |
| -Frozen | 52,313 | 35,300 | 53,044 | 41,720 | 1.4 | 18.2 | |
| -Salted | 24,435 | 19,398 | 23,737 | 20,569 | -2.9 | 6.0 | |
| -Fresh/iced | 40,216 | 39,361 | 40,618 | 47,939 | 1.0 | 21.8 | |
| -Dried | 12,323 | 4,840 | 12,147 | 5,745 | -1.4 | 18.7 | |
| -Meal/fish oil | 2,931 | 1,513 | 2,491 | 1,474 | -15.0 | -2.6 | |
| -Other | 80 | 20 | 137 | 75 | 71.3 | 276.2 | |
| Haddock | All categories | 20,515 | 13,861 | 24,375 | 18,131 | 18.8 | 30.8 |
| Saithe | All categories | 32,143 | 11,319 | 32,360 | 13,569 | 0.7 | 19.9 |
| Redfish | All categories | 45,529 | 13,490 | 38,032 | 13,683 | -16.5 | 1.4 |
| Mackerel | All categories | 75,446 | 13,119 | 94,368 | 19,031 | 25.1 | 45.1 |
Statistics
Catch
Export of marine products
Import of raw material
Total value of catch in fixed prices