The cod project

About the project

In this project we investigate the historical variation in abundance of Icelandic cod (Gadus morhua). The Icelandic cod stock has been the main source of income in Iceland for centuries. A good understanding of the dynamics affecting the fluctuations in the stock are therefore important. Arguably it is especially important now with rapid climate changes and probable changes in the marine ecosystems following. Considering this it is very interesting to analyse the fluctuations in the Iceland cod stock as far back as possible using historical catch and effort data. The period around the 1920´s is especially interesting as this is a time of warming, similar as in the late 1990´s. The main research questions in this project are: Does the CPUE in the cod fisheries reflect the cod biomass in the sea and subsequently how does the climate affect the size of the Icelandic cod stock?

Members

Hreiðar Þór Valtýsson, Assistant professor, School of Business and Science, University of Akureyri, Iceland
Hörður Sævaldssin, Assistant professor, School of Business and Science, University of Akureyri, Iceland

Collaborators

University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
MRI - Marine Research Institute, Reykjavik, Iceland