The intrinsic rate of increase for Icelandic cod is estimated at 0.24 (Myers, et al., 1997). Icelandic cod become sexually mature at an average age of six to seven years (EU Cod Trace, 2003). Cod can reach ages in excess of 20 years in the Northwest Atlantic (NMFS, 2000), and can live to more than 25 years of age and weigh over 90 kg in the Northeast Atlantic (EU Cod Trace, 2003). Although the intrinsic rate of increase would place Icelandic cod in the 3 category, the age at maturity and longevity of the fish place it in the 2 category, the more conservative number will be used.

Atlantic Cod form dense spawning and schooling aggregations (NMFS 1999b), however, Iceland prohibits fishing during much of the spawning season. Studies have also shown that Atlantic Cod vertically migrate below and above the thermocline to find food, which might reduce the number caught (Palsson and Thorsteinsson, 2003). However, it should be noted that not all Atlantic Cod display this behavior, and some literature suggests that cod do not migrate, but that there are distinct populations of Atlantic Cod found in shallow and deep waters (Arnason et al., 2009). No points were subtracted or added due to contrasting results.

Climate change is a concern for Icelandic cod, since warmer temperatures reduce the growth of larger, heavier individuals and could lead to a slower recovery (Palsson and Thorsteinsson, 2003). On the other hand, warmer temperatures increase the growth rates of small individuals, which may offset the reduction in growth of older fish (Bjornsson and Steinarsson, 2007). No points were added or subtracted.

Egg production in Atlantic Cod ranges from a few million to 30 million depending on size, weight and environmental parameters. Size and weight increase the amount of eggs produced. A female cod will lay up to 500,000 eggs per kg of weight. Consequently, an 8 year-old female of 5 kg can produce 2.5 million eggs per year (EU Cod Trace 2003). Relative fecundity (number of eggs per gram of body weight) increases with size (length in cm) (Marteinsdottir and Begg, 2002).

Atlantic Cod are distributed on the continental shelves and in coastal waters of the entire North Atlantic. Atlantic Cod are located around Iceland in waters that range in temperature from 2 to 8 ºC (36-46 ºF) (Palsson and Thorsteinsson, 2003) and are distributed over a wide range of physical habitats. We consider this a medium-sized range, so no points were added.

According to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the status of the Icelandic cod stock cannot be determined because managers have not identified biological reference points (ICES, 2003 & 2009). However, spawning stock biomass in 2009 was estimated to be 220,000 t, which is below the long-term average of 480,000 t (ICES 2003). The ICES classifies Icelandic cod as overfished due to the level of fishing mortality in relation to the highest yield, however any comparison to precautionary limits in unavailable (ICES, 2009).

The ICES and the Icelandic Marine Research Institute report that the mean weight-at-age for Icelandic cod is well below the historical average and that productivity of the stock is very low (ICES, 2009; IMRI 2009). This has already had an impact of recruitment, which is much lower than the long-term average, 115 million compared to 180 million (ICES, 2009; IMRI 2009).

The ICES describes Icelandic cod as 'overfished' when looking at the fishing mortality in relation to highest yield. However, the government of Iceland lists the population as impaired (IMRI, 2009). A finite definition of the population is difficult since no precautionary reference points exist for this population. The IUCN has classified Atlantic Cod as 'vulnerable' (IUCN 2009)

Fishing mortality is declining and the spawning stock biomass (SSB) is increasing slowly (ICES, 2009). SSB was 220,000 t in 2009 and projected to be around 240,000 t in 2010 (ICES, 2009). Points were awarded because there is evidence that the population is increasing, although slowly, over a generational time scale.

In Iceland, Atlantic Cod are caught mainly (55% in 2006) by bottom trawls (Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture, Iceland, 2008). They are also caught by other bottom fishing gear, including longlines and handlines (25%), Danish seines and gillnets (<10% each), and to a lesser extent by other gear such as midwater trawls (Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture, Iceland, 2008). Because the majority of Atlantic Cod from Iceland are caught using bottom trawls, a score of 1 was awarded

There is concern that decreasing abundance of capelin, which is a prey item for cod, is a contributing factor to the slow recovery of Atlantic Cod populations in Iceland (IMRI, 2009, Bjornsson, 2002).

Atlantic Cod is caught along with other demersal fish species, so efforts to increase mesh sizes are highly opposed and not implemented because it would reduce overall fish landings (ICES, 2003).

There have been a series of closures to help rebuild or protect Atlantic Cod in Iceland. In 1976, Iceland implemented juvenile area closures that involves closing fishing in areas when total catch consists of 25% or more small (<55cm) cod. In 1995, Iceland began closing spawning areas for all fisheries for 2-3 weeks during spawning season. In 2005 the maximum allowed gillnet mesh size was decreased to 8 inches to protect large spawning fish (ICES, 2009)

The Icelandic Ministry of Fisheries manages the fishery in accordance with the Fisheries Management Act of 1990. This law created Iceland's system of individual transferable quotas (ITQs), which allocates shares in the total allowable catch (TAC) to fishing vessels. In 1995 Iceland introduced a formal harvest control rule, in which the TAC for a fishing year is computed as a fraction of the 'available biomass' (age 4 and older fish). According to ICES, this corresponds to a fishing mortality of about 0.4, and was considered precautionary (ICES, 2003). Other management tools include fishing seasons, gear and area restrictions, requirement for logbooks, catch monitoring and reporting, minimum size restrictions, and overall TAC and ITQs to allocate the TAC among various sectors of the fleet. In 2006, the Icelandic government implemented spawning region closures to protect spawning fish during the 2-3 week period they spawn.

Although the Iceland Fisheries Ministry states that they follow the advice of its Marine Research Institute, TACs have historically been set above the level recommended by ICES, with reported catches being even higher due to non reporting of discards (IMRI, 2009; ICES, 2009). Although there is not a prescribed overfishing threshold, ICES scientists have consistently reported the fishing mortality of Icelandic cod as too high (Cook 2002).

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea classifies Atlantic Cod from Iceland as overfished (ICES 2009), although the Icelandic Government does not. The abundance of Atlantic Cod is slowly increasing but it is too early to determine if the recovery plan is working, so no points were added or subtracted.

The Icelandic government monitors catches and the Icelandic Marine Research Institute, despite not having proper reference biomass limits, performs stock assessments/recommendations. The Icelandic Marine Research Institute gathers data and makes recommendations to the government regarding TACs; often the government raises the recommended value by 10,000-30,000 t, which may slow recovery of the stock, but does not increase fishing mortality to the point of population decline (ICES, 2009; IMRI, 2009).

An assessment on the reporting and data collection procedures of the Icelandic government showed that there are some flaws in the handling of information, however these flaws are not enough to render the information useless (MRAG, 2002). However one issue they found was that if fishery assessments show a rise in population size, the government immediately adjusts TACs to suit the increased population, however the MRAG study suggests that because of possible errors in the estimates, this should not happen immediately. However, when the assessments show the population to be decreasing, then rapid reductions in TAC may be necessary to avoid long-term damage to the population (MRAG, 2002).

No points were added or subtracted here to account for problems of estimating abundance and making recommendations without any reference biomass levels.

Iceland's ITQ system was developed to reduce fishing effort.

The ICES Study Group on Bycatch and Discard Information reported in 2002 that sampling information on discarding in Icelandic cod fisheries is poor. Iceland only recently (2001) began systematic sampling of discards on commercial cod and haddock vessels. It is known, however, that juvenile Atlantic Cod are taken in cod and in herring fisheries. Plaice, megrim, long rough dab, and witch flounder are among the flatfish species caught by bottom trawls fishing for Atlantic Cod in Icelandic waters. No quantitative data about discards and bycatch is available for the Atlantic Cod fishery. The North Sea discard rate is ~41% of all landings (Horwood et al., 2006).

Current bycatch reduction measures include monitoring catches of juvenile cod and other species such as redfish, saithe, and haddock and capping catches of these species at 10 percent of total catch. There is also a 12-mile limit for large trawlers in most areas and there are several selectivity measures, such as a maximum mesh size of 8 inches. A sorting grid is mandatory to avoid bycatch of juvenile fish in the shrimp fisheries and devices for excluding juveniles in the groundfish fisheries are also mandatory in certain areas (Iceland Ministry of Fisheries, 2003).