Barents Sea - Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries

The Barents Sea management plan (BSMP) is state-of-the-art. In April 2006, the Norwegian government launched a White Paper on a new holistic management plan for the Norwegian part of the Barents Sea, including the fishery protection zone around Svalbard (Anon 2006). Since 2011 a revised plan is implemented. New revisions are to take place every fifth year. The plan aims at sustainable use of the ecosystem, within acceptable levels of pollution, with reduced risk of accidental spills, with sufficient capacity and readiness to deal with accidents, and seafood that is safe for consumption, while safeguarding biodiversity.

Following international guidelines for ecosystem-based management, the plan provides an overall framework for managing all human activities (oil and gas industry, fishing, and shipping) in the area to ensure the continued health, production, and function of the Barents Sea ecosystem. The ecosystem is monitored by a joint Norwegian-Russian survey and assessment collaboration, detailed mapping of the life and structures on the sea bed (MAREANO). Several Norwegian research- and management units collaborate through the management plan: The Institute of Marine Research, The Norwegian Polar Institution, Directorates for fisheries, nature preservation, climate and pollution, petroleum production, maritime sector as well as radiation and air pollution surveillance institutes.
Based on a series of annual surveys (e.g. the Winter survey (January-February), the Ecosystem survey (August-September, continuous monitoring of chemo-physical water parameters, plankton etc), annual reports on the ecosystem state trends are published. The fishery is based on strict regulations, like species quotas, limit for bycatch and ban of any discards. Air- and ship look-out for illegal activity is performed all year round. The problems of overexploitation, illegal catches and discards are therefore significantly reduced. Species quotas are being advised based on the state of each stock, as well as models calculating the consumption needs for top predator species. By 2013 the NEA cod stock is near record high while the capelin stock is relatively stabile on a fairly strong level, partly due to reduced predation by young herring, not present in significant abundance in the Barents Sea at the time.