Acoustic estimates of spawning cod off Lofoten and Møre in 1983

Abstract

Acoustic surveys on spawning cod were arried out in Lofoten and off Møre in order to estimate the stock size and structure. The 1975 year class made up the bulk of the spawning stock in both areas. In the Lofoten area the total number of spawners was estimated to about 50 million specimens; the corresponding figure for the Møre area was 6 million specimens. Since the northeast Arctic cod spawns over considerably larger areas than those covered by the investigations, it is believed that the total spawning stock in 1983 was larger than the figures arrived at during the investigations reported here.