Harp seal harvest

Last updated 20 April 2026

Harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus) are currently harvested in the West Ice (the Greenland Sea near Jan Mayen). Since 2014, there has been no commercial Russian harvest in the East Ice (the southeastern part of the Barents Sea and the White Sea), and a few Norwegian boats have been hunting there occasionally (most recently in 2021). Until 1982, Norwegian vessels also harvested the species off Newfoundland. Today, catches are greatly reduced due to actions against seal hunting, which have had a strong negative impact on the markets.

Status and trend

The catch numbers are divided into two main groups:

1. Yearlings
2. Older animals/adults (1+)

Animals taken for research purposes are included in the catch data.

The harvest pressure on harp seals was probably far too high in both the West and the East Ice during the first two decades after the Second World War. High catch levels during this period may therefore have been a driving force behind the decline in population size right up until the end of the 1960s, when regulations were introduced. In combination with declining harvest effort during the 1970s, it may seem that the regulations had a positive effect on both stocks, as indirect data and observations indicate that the stocks began to increase. However, this is uncertain as there are no reliable estimates of the size of these stocks. After a period of apparently stable pup production from the late 1990s, it declined by nearly 50% from 2003-2005, and has subsequently remained at a low but relatively stable level up to the most recent survey in 2013.

Since 1990, the catch level has been low in both the West and the East Ice. In the West Ice, both Norway and Soviet/Russia caught seals until 1994. After 1994, this has been a purely Norwegian effort with a catch level of less than 10,000 animals per year in most years. The East Ice catch has also traditionally been run by Norway and Soviet/Russia. The total catch level was between 35,000 and 45,000 until 2003, after which there was a sharp reduction in catch volume. In the years since 2009, there has been no Russian seal harvest in the East Ice. There was also no Norwegian harvest in the area in 2009-2017, but in 2018 organized Norwegian harvest started again with one Norwegian vessel. The last Norwegian catch in the East Ice was in 2021.

ICES’ management advice usually involves an annual catch that aims to stabilize the stock over a 15-year period. On the basis of uncertainty related to the decline in pup production, monitoring data and population models, ICES has recommended that the catch level be based on the most conservative calculation method possible in the West Ice. The recommendation for the East Ice is that catches must be discontinued until new and quality-assured stock estimates are available and a new model revision is carried out. The conclusion of the Joint Norwegian-Russian Fisheries Commission for the 2025 season followed the advice from ICES, except for the East Ice. In the West Ice, the recommended catch is 7,398 animals, plus any carry-over from the previous year. This amounted to a quota of 12,725 animals for the 2025 season. In the East Ice, the recommendation was no catch in 2025. In 2000, Russia relinquished its long-standing quotas in the West Ice. From 2001, these quotas have therefore been reserved in their entirety for Norwegian sealers. For catches in the East Ice, the Fisheries Commission reached agreement in 2019 that Norway can take 7,000 adult harp seals out of the total quota after 2020. This cannot be taken by Norwegian sealers as long as the temporary catch ban applies in the area.

Causal factors

Harvest quotas are set based on model calculations of the total stock and harvest options. Quotas are often set conservatively with the aim of stabilizing the stock at a certain level over a 15-year period. The Advisory Committee for Fishery Management (ACOM) within ICES considers catches in the West Ice (and East Ice) to be within safe biological limits.

Consequences

Harp seals feed on crustaceans and fish, and the total consumption of fish by the seal population can be calculated on the basis of knowledge of feeding habits (gathered by our own expeditions and from catches), and the size and demographics of the population.

It has previously been estimated that the East Ice harp seal stock consumes around 3.5 million tons of various prey in the Barents Sea in one year. However, these are highly uncertain estimates as there are no credible population estimates for this stock. Because it is probably the most abundant pelagic seal species in the Northern seas, the harp seal is an important species to monitor. It constitutes a large biomass, and changes in the population could therefore have consequences for other parts of the ecosystem.

About the monitoring

Harp seals are monitored because the population can be affected by harvest, and because the species is ice-dependent and can be affected by climate change. Estimates of population size are based on counts of pup production every 5 years. Estimates of pup production, information on female fertility and catch levels are included as data in population modeling of harp seals in the East and the West Ice. These models have now been discontinued as they are unable to scale up from pup production to population size.

Further reading