This case study provides an overview of the fisheries and aquaculture sector in Iceland, focusing on production, management, processing and trade, as well as Iceland’s role as a major supplier of fishery and aquaculture products to the EU market.
Iceland’s extensive Exclusive Economic Zone and long coastline support a highly productive seafood sector, which remains strongly export-oriented. In 2025, Icelandic seafood exports reached 2,88 billion euros. Fisheries continue to dominate the sector, while aquaculture, particularly Atlantic salmon farming, has expanded rapidly in recent years.
In 2025, catches by the Icelandic fleet amounted to approximately 1,04 million tonnes. Blue whiting was the leading species by volume, followed by cod, herring, mackerel and haddock. Cod nevertheless remains the most important species in value terms, accounting for around 48% of the total catch value in 2024. Together with haddock, demersal whitefish species represent around 60% of the total catch value, highlighting their central role in Iceland’s fishing economy.
Aquaculture has become increasingly important. Total production reached 64.417 tonnes in 2025, up 18% compared with 2024. Atlantic salmon accounted for 91% of aquaculture output, reaching 58.700 tonnes, while Arctic char represented a further 8%.
The Icelandic seafood industry has also shifted towards higher-value production through increased automation, improved processing technology and greater use of by-products. Although frozen fish still represents a large share of exports, fresh and other high-value products have gained importance, while products such as heads, skins, bones and offal are increasingly transformed into oils, enzymes and other value-added products.
The EU is Iceland’s main export market, accounting for 52% of export volume and 54% of export value in 2025. Cod, salmon, mackerel and other groundfish species were among the main products exported to the EU. Iceland ranked as the EU’s third-largest extra-EU supplier of fishery and aquaculture products by value, after Norway and China, accounting for 10% of total extra-EU import value in 2025. EU imports from Iceland have increasingly shifted towards fresh and higher-value products, with cod remaining the main imported species and salmon recording particularly strong growth.