Acoustic estimates of spawning cod off Lofoten and Møre in 1982

Abstract

Acoustic surveys on spawning cod were carried out in Lofoten and off Møre in order to estimate the stock size and structure. The 1975 yearclass made up the bulk of the spawning stock in both areas. In the Lofoten area the total number of spawners was estimated to about 80 million specimens; the corresponding figure for the Møre area was 11 million specimens. Since the northeast arctic cod spawns over considerable larger areas than those covered by the investigations, it is believed that the total spawning stock in 1982 was much larger than the figures I arrived at during the investigations reported here.