For both stocks and particularly for cod, a significant reduction in fishing mortality has been achieved since the 1980s. SSBs have increased four to fivefold for both stocks, giving room for large, but nonetheless sustainable increases in total allowable catches.
7. Conclusions
The positive development in the Barents Sea fisheries since the 1980s cannot be attributed to one or a few causes or measures. It has been brought about by a suite of measures in combination with favourable natural conditions [27] and [28]. The lesson learnt is that a prudent management regime should give attention to and investigate possible improvements both in exploitation patterns to provide incentives for more selective fishing, as well as in the levels of exploitation [6], [24], [27] and [29]. Stakeholders’ acceptance of the change in policy has grown over time, and it could optimistically be argued that the success of these policy changes has led to changes in the perception on how the fisheries should be best exercised.
Acknowledgements
We thank especially our colleagues Hilde M. Jensen, Rolf-Harald Jensen, Stein-Åge Johnsen and Paul Oma for valuable input and comments during the drafting of this article.
References