Fig. 4 shows the dynamics in mean age- and weight-at-landing from 1946 to 2013. In the 1970s the mean age-at-landing fell to around 4 years when a strong year-class entered the NEA cod fishery, whereas from 1990 and onwards the mean age-at-landing has not been below 5 years in spite of the entrance of several strong year-classes in the fishery. From 1946 to 1950 the mean age-at-landing was higher than 7 years; in 2013 the mean age-at-landing was above 7 years for the first time since 1950. Mean weight-at-landing was lowest in the 1960s and 1970s, and in these decades it fell below 2 kg (see Table 1). From 2010 to 2013 the mean weight-at-landing increased by more than 1 kg from 2.84 kg to 3.87 kg, and in 2013 the highest mean weight-at-landing after the Second World War was reported. Table 1 illustrates how the selectivity in the NEA cod fishery in the Barents Sea deteriorated from the 1950s to the 1970s, but later improved due to the continuous and combined efforts to improve exploitation patterns since the 1980s. Important milestones in this regard are illustrated in Table 2.