Norwegian record Blue ling: 18.52 kg

About Blue ling

The blue ling (Molva dypterygia), a close relative of the common ling and tusk, is a long, slender deep-water fish. It is smaller than the common ling, with a much shorter chin barbel (no longer than the eye is wide) and a jutting lower jaw, and is greyish brown to bluish grey. Typical adults are 70 to 110 cm, with a maximum of about 155 cm. It lives near the bottom in the North Atlantic, preferring soft ground at roughly 300 to 1,000 m. Blue ling prey on fish, squid and crustaceans and can live 20 to 30 years. They spawn in April and May at great depth, gathering in dense shoals that made them easy to overfish. Slow growth and late maturity caused the stocks to decline sharply, and the species is listed as Endangered (EN) on the Norwegian Red List 2021. The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries lists it as a fully protected species.

Sources: Artsdatabanken, Fiskeridirektoratet, Wikipedia

• Habitat: Saltvann
• Best month: Juli
• Red list status: EN (2021)

See the species guide

Biggest Blue ling in FishComp

3.07 kg (17 % of the record) by Mathias Hjelvik Rolland. See the catch

How to register a Norwegian record

1. Norwegian sport-fishing records are registered with Villmarksliv, not with FishComp. Read the rules before you do anything else with the fish.
2. Records are based on weight and approved by a jury. You give the weight and length, where it was caught, the gear you used and any witnesses.
3. Keep your photos and notes from the catch. Logging it in FishComp does not register a record.