By Jenseraq Poulsen, Executive Director, Oceans North Kalaallit Nunaat (ONKN)

 

 

As we enter a new year, it is worth pausing to ask ourselves: What course are we setting for Greenland’s fisheries – not just for this year, but for generations to come?

The new Fisheries Act, which came into force on January 1, 2025, aims to ensure the sustainable use of the fishery resources. The management plans for key commercial species make it clear that fisheries must be biologically sustainable and follow scientific advice – and, in the long term, secure a biologically sustainable commercial fishery.

Nevertheless, in recent years we have repeatedly seen decisions to increase quotas far beyond scientific recommendations. This development raises questions about how, in practice, we reconcile the Fisheries Act and the new management plans.

 

 

A current example

 

The offshore cod fishery in West Greenland illustrates this challenge. The offshore cod stock was only just reopened for commercial fishing after several years of closure due to previous overfishing.

The Greenland Institute of Natural Resources and ICES recommended a catch of 3,238 tonnes for the offshore spawning cod stock in 2025. Decision-makers initially set a TAC of 6,500 tonnes – already twice as high as the advice. On October 17, the TAC was further increased by 10,000 tonnes to 16,500 tonnes. This means the final quota is more than four times higher than the scientific advice.

This is problematic because the scientific advice is our best tool to ensure that the fishery resources are used sustainably. Stocks must be maintained at a level where they can provide the maximum long-term sustainable yield without compromising reproductive capacity and stability.

This decision raises a fundamental question: How do we secure both business development and the future of the resources?

 

 

The nuances of the debate

 

The challenge is not that the industry wants growth. Rising cod stocks and good landing prices create a natural incentive to expand fishing. KNAPK and fishing companies rightly point to the business potential.

Nor is the challenge that nature is static. The Greenland Institute of Natural Resources confirms that cod stocks are developing positively, and ICES has increased its assessments based on latest data.

The challenge is that there are limits to how much we can take – even from growing stocks. When quotas deviate significantly from the advice, the short-term considerations take precedence over long-term planning – Here we risk undermining the foundation on which sustainable management is built.

Scientific advice does not exist to hold back the industry, but to ensure that it can continue.

 

Trust in science

 

ONKN works for healthy oceans and a fishery that can endure. Our position is thus clear: Scientific advice should be the foundation for setting quotas. Not because it is perfect, but because it is the best common decision-making basis we have for ensuring a fishery that delivers maximum long-term yield – environmentally, economically, socially, and culturally.

The arguments for high quotas are well known: increased employment, higher export revenues, and better utilization of existing capacity. The problem is that these gains are often short-term. Pressing stocks harder than they can sustain does not create more fish. On the contrary, it increases the risk of decline, which in the long run can lead to lower quotas, closures, and greater losses – even for the industry itself.

In the cod fishery, we saw the consequences in the 1990s when the stock collapsed and the fishery was closed. We risk repeating history by starting off too aggressively.

 

A better path

 

In a Greenlandic context, sustainability has often been described with a simple yet powerful image: Think of the cod stock as a bank account. We should only fish what the stock naturally produces each year – not the stock itself. When we fish far more than the biologists recommend, it is like withdrawing more than we earn. We get more money now, but the account is emptied – and our children get nothing. In everyday economic terms, it is like maxing out the credit card before the paycheck arrives – we run on credit, incur negative interest, and leave the bill for the future. And not only for future generations, but for ourselves, within our own lifetime. It is short-sighted and unsustainable.

There is a better path. When quotas follow the scientific advice, the stocks have the chance to grow stronger. This creates, in the long term, the basis for higher quotas, greater predictability for the industry, and a more resilient marine environment. It is not a choice between nature and economy – it is a choice for both in the long run.

The new cod management plan was adopted precisely to secure this balance. If we set quotas far above the advice in the very first year, we undermine the plan’s credibility and purpose.

 

Partnership is the way forward

 

Fishers know the ocean up close. They see daily what happens on the water – where the cod is, how the stock behaves, and how nature changes. This knowledge is invaluable. But precisely because fishers know the ocean so well, they also know that a good fishing day today does not guarantee a good fishing day tomorrow. Scientists look at the bigger picture, see trends and developments in their own surveys and in the landing data provided by the fishers to the landing sites. By combining the close-up and the broader perspectives, we get a better overall picture of the stocks.

The best management is built on partnership between those who fish, those who research, and those who manage. When user knowledge from the quay meets scientific knowledge from the surveys, and when both inform the political decisions – that is when we secure a fishery that benefits today and endures tomorrow.

 

New Year’s wish

 

As we step into 2026, ONKN’s message is therefore simple: Let us use the new Fisheries Act and the management plans for what they were intended to be – a shared compass. Let us be patient and allow scientific advice to play the role it was meant to.

We all want fish on the table tomorrow – but also in five, ten, and twenty years.

ONKN wishes all fishers, hunters, their families, and everyone working for Greenland’s ocean and resources a Happy New Year. We hope for a 2026 where dialogue between industry, science, and management is further strengthened, and where together we make the decisions that ensure the next generations of fishers can stand on the quay with the same pride and joy as today.

For the ocean gives – but only if we listen to both its signals and to those who know it best.