Vesterålen/Lofoten are the main spawning areas for cod. The eggs are spawned pelagically in February-April. Egg and larvae are carried with the current into the Barents Sea, and the 0-group fish settles to the bottom there in late autumn. Most of the stock is found in the Barents Sea, on the warm side of the Polar Front, reaching to 76°N and 50°E. In warm years the cod distribution extends farther to the north and east. In autumn 2007, cod was found as far north as 81°N (north of Spitsbergen) and 56°E (southern tip of Novaya Zemlya).
The Northeast Arctic cod stock is the largest cod stock in the world. Other marine cod stocks are found around Iceland, around the Faroes, in the Baltic, the North Sea, the Irish Sea and in the areas around Georges Bank and Newfoundland in the Northwest Atlantic. In addition there are local fjord and coastal stocks along the coasts of Norway, South Greenland and Canada.
